Witches, Wizards, and Winged Mutants
by Envy and Fury
Summary: The Flock have been enrolled in Hogwarts, a 'special' school for 'special' people. The Marauders decide to take the newcomers under their wings, not knowing that they actually have wings. But really, how long can you go without being chased by lunatics?
1. School for the Mentally Impaired

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Maximum Ride or Harry Potter.**

**Somehow Maximum Ride time and Marauders time has become the same, mainly because I got bored with the trio and everything. Set after _Max_ and in the Marauders era.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: School for the Mentally Impaired Who Believe They can do Magic (Max's POV)**

'So, Max. Any idea how to get to,' Fang paused, and looked at his letter, 'Diagon Alley?'

'None. This is _not_ going to be fun.' I replied. We were going to a special school for special people. I had the weirdest feeling that this wasn't going to be good. I kept walking, hoping to see a sign or something, when I ran into, yes, _literally ran into_, a boy. He had longish black hair, kind of like Fang's, and he seemed to know where he was going.

'Oops! I'm sorry, didn't see you there.' He grinned at me, and helped me up. 'I'm Sirius.'

'Well, that's just helpful! You're serious! I'm serious too!' I snapped.

'No, my _name_ is Sirius. S-i-r-i-u-s.' He spelt it out for me.

'Oh.' I blushed. 'Sorry. Say, do you know where Diagon Alley is?'

'Yeah. Right this way.'

-o-o-o-o-

Moments later, me, my flock, and Sirius were in Diagon Alley. I still hadn't told Sirius my name, but I don't think he noticed. He dragged us all from shop to shop, getting our books, and robes, and everything.

'Okay, last stop!' Sirius said, painfully cheerful. 'Wands!'

'Great.' I muttered. Nudge was high, and blabbering nonsense that I was ignoring. Fang said nothing, surprisingly. Iggy was listening to Nudge, and Gazzy and Angel were sulking about not being old enough to go. I rolled my eyes.

'Here we are! Oh, and by the way, I forgot to ask, how come I never saw you before, because she's' he pointed at Nudge, 'Is starting first year, and you're all older than her, so how come you never went to Hogwarts before?'

'Long story. I'll tell you one day.' _Maybe_. I added in my mind.

'Okay. This is Olivander's. In you go.'

-o-o-o-o-

We entered the wand shop. A man greeted us. 'Ah, hello there. Welcome to my wand shop.'

Me, Fang, Iggy, and Nudge stepped forward. 'We need wands.' I said, pointing out the obvious.

'Okay, why don't you go first?' he asked me. 'Hold out your wand arm.' I held up my right arm, and a tape measure whirled its way over, and started measuring. Freaky much.

Olivander pulled a box off the shelf. 'Try this one. 12 inches, ebony with veela hair.' I took the stick. It was immediately snatched away. I raised my eyebrow. _Okay, this was weird... _'Eleven inches, willow with unicorn hair.' I took a slightly shorter stick. Confetti-like stuff spilled out of it. 'Good, good! Nice wand, that one. Good for charms and transfiguration.' Olivander told me. 'That one's yours. Now you.' He pointed at Fang.

-o-o-o-o-

Several minutes later, we had our wands. Fang's was twelve inches, oak with unicorn hair. Iggy's was fourteen inches, yew and dragon heartstring. Nudge's was ten inches, oak with veela hair. Angel and Gazzy didn't have wands. This school was starting to sound like a school for the mentally impaired who believe they can do magic. Either way, I didn't want to go.

Sirius was waiting for us, along with a short blonde boy.

'Hi. I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew.' The boy introduced himself.

'Nice meeting you. I'll see you later!' Sirius said, walking away.

'Well. What do we do now?' I asked.

'We've got everything, so we can go.' Fang said.

'Up and away.' I replied, smiling.

-o-o-o-o-

Two days later, we were at King's Cross Station. I looked around for a platform labeled '9 3/4' but I couldn't see one. I frowned.

'Uh, guys? Anyone see platform 9 3/4?' I asked. Fang shook his head.

'No. But then again, I can't see the other platforms!' Iggy said. I rolled my eyes.

'I'm rolling my eyes, Iggy.' I told him. He had a right to know.

'Well,' Nudge piped up. I nearly moaned. 'There's Peter Pettigrew. We could ask him.' Ooh, finally. A decent idea. I walked up to him.

'Hey, Peter.' I said, in what I hoped was an open and friendly voice.

'H-h-hi.' he stuttered. Apparently my oh-so-friendly-and-nice voice wasn't so friendly and nice.

'Could you help us get on to platform 9 3/4. We just transferred to Hogwarts.' I said, trying to make my voice more friendly. Fang smirked at my efforts.

'Oh. Um, okay, sure. You just walk through this wall-pole thing here, and then you're through.' he said, pointing at said wall-pole thing. 'I'll show you.' He ran into, no wait, through, the wall-pole thing. Fang raised an eyebrow. My mouth had fallen open.

'Anyone mind explaining?' Iggy asked irritably.

'Oh, uh.' I stumbled. I should probably not tell him about the wall-pole thing, just tell him to walk forward. 'Just walk straight forward, Ig. We're right behind.' Iggy paused, then shrugged, and went through the wall-pole thing. I followed, then Nudge, then Fang.

-o-o-o-o-

I looked around. I saw a red train, the Hogwarts Express, and people. Amazing, huh?

'Hey!' I turned to see Sirius and Peter wave. 'Over here!' Sirius called. We walked over.

'Hi.' I said lamely.

'Hi again, uh, what did you say your name was?' Peter asked.

'Max.' I figured it was best to not tell him that I was so paranoid I hadn't said my name.

'Max.' Peter repeated. 'I don't remember anyone else's name, either.' He blushed.

'Fang.' Fang said.

'I'm Nudge!' Nudge said with a cheesy grin on her face.

'I'm Iggy.' Iggy said.

'Oh, right!' Peter blushed some more. I felt kind of guilty, decieving him like this. Sirius was looking at me funny, but he seemed to dismiss it. Good.

We walked into the compartment Sirius led us to. There was only one person there, a boy with sandy blonde hair, who was staring absently out the window.

'Hey, Remus.' Sirius said, and the boy turned, revealing four jagged scars running down his left cheek. I stepped back, surprised. I would've thought that people here had magical healers get rid of scars. The boy, Remus, touched his hand to his cheek self-conciously, and blushed slightly.

'Hi.' I said. 'I'm Maximum Ride. Max, for short. And this is Fang, Iggy, and Nudge.' My attempt to be cheerful and friendly was pretty silly.

'Remus Lupin.' the boy said, with a small smile.

We stepped in, and sat down. I was facing Fang, with Peter and Iggy next to me. Nudge was next to Iggy, and looking out the window.

'Hi! I was wondering where you were! Who are the newcomers?' a boy with messy black hair asked.

'James!' Peter leapt up, and in a massive show of PDA, hugged the taller boy.

'I'm Max.' I said.

'Fang.'

'Iggy.'

'Nudge!'

'I'm James. Potter.' James added his last name as almost an afterthought, and smiled at us, a real genuine smile. If I was careless, I could get used to those! James dumped his stuff, and sat next to Fang, who was next to Sirius, who was next to Remus.

'Hey, Evans!' James called as a red haired girl walked past. 'Come see the newbies!' I blushed at being called a newbie. The redhead stopped, and came to say hello.

'I'm Lily Evans.'

'Max.'

'Fang.'

'Iggy.'

'Nudge!'

'Nice to meet you.' Lily smiled, another genuine smile! She started walking away.

'Evans.' James said.

'What, Potter?' she snapped.

'Go out with me?'

'No.'

-o-o-o-o-

'Firs' years, this way!' A man's booming voice called. I gently pushed Nudge towards the voice.

'See you later.' I said, and hugged her quickly. She smiled at me, and hugged the others before running off. She turned back oen last time, waved, and disappeared.

'Come on.' James pulled me. 'No use staring. You'll see her later.' I nodded.

We were off to Hogwarts School for the Mentally Impaired Who Believed They can do Magic.


	2. A Warm Enough Welcome

**Heya. It's me again, obviously. It looks like it's going to take a little longer than expected to complete the changes, since I've decided to wipe about half of it out, and replace it...**

**'Nyways, here's the new/old/improved/whatever chapter.**

**An anonymous reviewer pointed out that I may have accidentally ending up stating that Ravenclaw was the house with yellow and black. Now I feel like an idiot.**

**But don't worry, I'm not _that_ stupid. Iggy was originally a Hufflepuff, but I decided he suited Ravenclaw better, and forgot to change that bit. I hope all your inner Potter freaks are satisfied. :)**

**I also realised no one was in Slytherin... That makes me mildly sad, but I suppose none of them were really all that cunning, at least not to the point where Slytherin would be their house. Ah well, maybe some other time.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or Harry Potter. There. I said it.**

* * *

**A Warm Enough Welcome**

'Students!' A tall man with a long white beard stood up. We, that is, me, Fang and Iggy, were standing to the side with Professor McGonagall. 'This year, we are fortunate enough to have with us three new fourth year students, who have just transferred here. Please make Maximum, Fang, and Iggy welcome, as well as the first years.'

'Ascher, Fang!' McGonagall called out. We had agreed that me and Iggy were siblings, and Nudge was our cousin, and Fang was a friend. Fang stepped forward, and sat down, putting on the hat.

Silence.

'GRYFFINDOR!' the Hat yelled. I blinked, and did a double take. The HAT was talking. Fang leapt down, took the Hat off, and joined the red and gold table, where the four boys we'd met earlier, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and James, were sitting.

'Ride, Iggy!'

'RAVENCLAW!' The table decked in blue and bronze cheered.

'Ride, Maximum!'

**_Well, well, well. What do we have here? A human-avain hybrid, huh? Well, let's see. You're not smart enough for Ravenclaw, just not right for Hufflepuff, so is it Slytherin or Gryffindor?_**

_Please. Put me in Gryffindor with Fang._ I thought hard, ignoring the fact that it'd practically called me stupid.

**_If you're sure then..._**

'GRYFFINDOR!' I smiled, took the Hat off, and went to join Fang.

-o-o-o-o-

'Ride, Nudge!' McGonagall called. I tensed.

'HUFFLEPUFF!' Hmm... I wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

'Max? Max?' Sirius whacked me gently. 'Max?'

'Oh, what?' I blinked, coming out of my reverie.

'We've been congratulating you. Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor.'

'Oh, right. Thanks.' I smiled, and looked at Nudge, who was grinning, albeit nervously. She looked my way, and waved. I waved back, feeling a stupid grin grow on my face.

-o-o-o-o-

'Hi, Max.' I turned, and saw Lily walking towards me. I smiled sheepishly.

'Hey, Lily. Could you help me out? I don't know where the Gryffindor tower is, let alone the girls' dorms.'

'Sure. This way.' She led me up several flights of stairs, and eventually we reached a painting of a fat lady.

'Password?' the fat lady trilled.

'Gillyweed.' Lily replied, then turned to me. 'You'll have to memorise all the passwords, they change about once a week.' The portrait swung open, and we entered the Gryffindor common room. I waved to Fang, who had just entered, and continued up the stairs, following Lily to the dorms.

'Oh, you're with me.' she said, upon entering. She pointed to a four poster bed with my stuff next to it. I jumped onto it, revelling in the springyness.

-o-o-o-o-

After unpacking, I went down to the common room, and saw Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, and Fang sitting in various chairs around the fireplace.

'Max! Fang gave us permission, so...' James trailed off dramatically, and I narrowed my eyes at Fang.

'Maximum Ride, we, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James yada yada yada, blah blah blah, something, something else, you're an honourary Marauder unless we feel like kicking you out.' Sirius said.

'Hey, how come my name got cut off?' James demanded.

'How come mine wasn't in there at all?' Peter whined.

_'Anyway, _your brother Iggy can be an honourary Marauder. Nudge can be too, if she wants.' Sirius interrupted.

'You didn't give _me_ a choice.' I pointed out, but not really caring. I would've joined.

'Fang said you would want to anyway.' Peter squeaked.

'Fang knows me too well.' I replied. They all laughed. 'What do you do, anyway? As the Marauders, I mean.'

'Well, we prank Slytherins.' Sirius said.

'And we raid the kitchens!' Peter piped up.

'And we prank Slytherins some more.' James added.

'And we just generally do whatever we feel like.' Remus finished. 'Like this.' He pointed his wand at Sirius and flicked it. Sirius' feet grew larger and larger. Remus flicked his wand again, and Sirius' feet went back to thier normal size. Sirius glared at Remus, and flicked his wand, turning Remus' hair electric blue. I raised my eyebrows.

'Nice.' I said, to both of them as Remus fixed his hair.

'Yeah, we know.' Sirius said, and both Sirius and Remus smirked at me.

'You'll thank us all, someday.'

-o-o-o-o-

I walked around, trying to get a feel for the place, when I bumped into a boy with greasy black hair.

'Hey, watch where you're going, _mudblood_.' he snapped.

'And who are _you_?' I hissed.

'Severus Snape.' he replied in a superior tone.

'Well, _Severus Snape_, I suggest you never insult me or my bloodline ever again!' I would've punched him, but he pointed his wand at me.

'_Petrificus totalis_.' he said almost lazily, and I froze, and fell to the ground. He flicked his wand with a nonverbal, and I shot up into the air, like I had been yanked up by an invisible rope. I wanted to scream, but I really kind of couldn't...

'Snape.' a commanding voice rang through the hall. 'Don't you have better things to do?'

My eyes flicked towards the sound of the voice, and I saw a girl, older than me by at about two years. A Slytherin.

'Black.' Snape hissed back. 'What do you want?'

'Playing with mudbloods again? Really, can't you find yourself a better hobby? Come on, Rodolphus has something to show us... Well, not so much you, but Malfoy finds you useful.' A sneer ripped across her features, and I felt jealous. I wish I could sneer like that.

-o-o-o-o-

Nudge sat in the Hufflepuff common room, feeling alone and left out. Iggy, Max, and Fang were all in different houses. In Hufflepuff, she had no friends, and she could hear the girls in her dorm gossiping about her. Tears threatened to spill as she stumbled out of the Hufflepuff common room. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she was leaving.

She walked down the stairs, and down some more, until she didn't know where she was.

'Hello. Nudge Ride, right?' Nudge looked up, startled. She saw a boy with long platinum blonde hair. He smiled at her.

'Who are you?' she asked.

'Lucius. Lucius Malfoy.' the blonde boy replied. 'What's the matter? Why are you crying?'

'Well...' Nudge told him everything, and he listened. He cooed comforting words, and she was under his control.

-o-o-o-o-

Later that day, at dinner, I sat down with the Marauders, feeling accepted and not so out of place and mutantish.

'Hey.' I said.

'Hi, Max.' Fang smiled one of his rare smiles at me. The world spun.

'Hmmm mracs.' Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of food. The other Marauders smiled, and the weirdest feeling settled over me. I smiled, genuinely, and Fang shot me a freaked out look.

'Max. You're smiling. It's weird.' he said.

'Shut up.'

-o-o-o-o-

After dinner, I told them about my encounter with Snape, and the girl who Sirius told me was his cousin Bellatrix. The Marauders had decided to help me get revenge.

I waited outside the Slytherin portrait, apparently alone. But in reality, Sirius, Remus, and James were waiting under James' invisibility cloak. Peter had somehow landed himself in detention, and Fang wasn't a good enough wizard, and the cloak could only fit so many people. Sure, as it was, they could barely fit, but three was still easier to fit than five.

Finally, Severus, or rather, Snivellus, arrived. He spotted me, and sneered, drawing his wand. I drew mine. I didn't know much, so the boys would do the actual spells, while I just waved my wand, looking superior. Heh. That totally worked for me.

I waved my wand. Snivellus sprouted yellow hair all over his face. I held back a giggle. I waved my wand again, and his greasy hair was suddenly streaked in red, blue, and yellow.

He flicked his wand right back, looking enraged, and I felt something cold slither around my neck. I touched it. It was a _snake_. I shivered. I waved my wand, hoping that they would get the message and get rid of the snake. They did, as well as conjuring a lion tattoo onto Snivellus' right cheek. I snorted with laughter, then gave in and collapsed, laughing. He scowled, and left, leaving me nearly choking with laughter.

-o-o-o-o-

'Well.' I said, later that night. We, Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, Fang, and me, were sitting in the common room, recounting the hilarity.

'Yes, well.' Sirius said. 'You do realise that none of that is actually going to come off for, how long again?'

'A few days. Maybe a week or two.' James grinned. I grinned back.

-o-o-o-o-

I lay in my bed, thinking. I thought of everything that had happened today.

'Max?' Lily asked.

'Yes?'

'Do I want to know what they did today?'

'Snivellus hexed me, so we jinxed him.' I grinned.

'He _hexed_ you?' She sounded angry.

'Yeah, so?'

'He should've known better!' Lily hissed. 'That wasn't fair!'

'We got him back, though.'

'I thought he had more common sense than that!'

'Lily. It's over. Forget it.'

'You're right. I'm sorry.'

'Sorry?'

'Never mind.'


	3. Change

**Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night/Whatever-the-hell-the-time-is-for-you.**

**So sorry to disappoint some of you, but I'm very much alive, and back with edits. Again, the plot is more of less the same, I'm just going to ditch a whole lot of irrelevant shit.**

**The funny thing is, it's not actually so bad, these first few chapters. Could be better, but it really went downhill later...**

**Meh. 'Nyways, I don't own, obviously.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: You Talk About Change Like It's A Good Thing**

'Max! Max, get up!' Lily shook me awake. I was already awake, just confused at where I was. I blinked, taking in my surroundings. 'Come on, today's Monday, there're lessons!'

I got up. 'Lily, can you help me find the books I need for each class?'

'Sure, okay.' Lily was nice, I found, and helpful. Not _too _helpful, mind you. Just helpful in a good helping way. You know? Okay, never mind. That was just completely confusing. So anyway, Lily helped me grab the books I needed for Divination, and Muggle Studies, then we headed down for breakfast.

-o-o-o-o-

Lily and I walked down the stairs, talking about whatever came to our minds.

'So, how many people around here have big secrets?' I asked.

'What do you mean? Because I'm sure there's _plenty _of broom closet activity, if you know what I mean...' She blushed slightly, possibly remembering some activities of her own...

'No, I mean, like hiding something that could get them chucked out of school, or shunned, or worshipped, or something.' I said casually.

Lily glanced at me questioningly. 'I don't know. There's a few, I'm pretty sure.' Good. So we probably weren't the only ones. Well, maybe there weren't many people with wings, but at least something to hide.

'Hey, Max, Lily! Over here!' I looked at the Gryffindor table to see Sirius waving at us. We went over to join the others. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lily hesitate before sitting.

'Hello there, my Lily-Flower. How are things so far?' James asked, ruffling his already messed up hair.

'Shut up, Potter.' Lily snapped. I blinked.

'Aw, so my Lilykins isn't in a good mood? Maybe I could fix that?' James smirked.

'You'd just make me miserable.' Lily hissed. So _that_ was why Lily had hesitated. I suppressed a grin. At least Fang and I weren't like that, even back then.

'So, Max, Fang, ready for Divination with the Hufflepuffs?'

'Is it good?'

'No!' Peter squeaked.

'Why?' Fang asked. One word so far! He's on a roll!

'Sybil Trelawney. She likes to pretend that she's a seer, and predicts everyone's deaths. Really, though, if she's a seer, I'm a vampire.' Remus explained.

'No! Remus is a vampire!' Sirius said, pretending to ward Remus off with a piece of garlic. 'Save me! Anyway, she predicted that I would choke to death at breakfast tomorrow, and the poor old Remmy the vampire would get stabbed with a muggle knife, a machete I think she called it, and James would trip down the stairs and out the window, inpaling his heart and right eye in the process. Oh, and Pete would die a hero's death, whatever that is.'

'Right...' I said.

'Yeah.'

-o-o-o-o-

We entered the spacious room, and I looked around. It didn't look like a classroom at all. There were curtain-ish hangings everywhere, and little tables with crystal balls on them. I glanced around for the professor. No one.

'Just sit.' Sirius told me, and I sank down on one of the cushion-y chair things.

'Welcome.' a female voice said. I stiffened. 'I am Professor Valdaen. Welcome to Divination. You are early, but no matter. Maximum Ride, is it? And Fang Ascher? Do take a seat.'

-o-o-o-o-

We were reading teacups. Lily was my partner, and she showed me how we were supposed to prepare the cup. She handed her cup to me, and I gave my cup to her.

'Okay, I'll go first, if you like.' she said. I nodded. 'Hmm... Well, this could be a, uh, bunch of roses? For true love. That's sweet. And, um, this looks like cheese... and cheese means, um, nothing... so maybe it's a pyramid, which means, uh, that you will lose a loved one, and this here, could be a, um, heh, a, sun? For happiness. Your turn.'

I peered into Lily's cup. I saw... tea remains. Amazing.

'Well, let's see, this could be a, um, feather? For one sided love. Oh, and a, what the heck is that? Um, deer? For, hmm... blessings in disguise. How cliché. Oh, and this would be a... a book. For a great achievement. Heh. How very detailed.' I looked up, and I saw that we were both struggling not to laugh. Valdaen was casting a suspicious look in our direction.

-o-o-o-o-

Fang sighed. Trelawney had spent the last fifteen minutes pouring over his teacup. So far she'd told him that he was in love, and that person loved him back, and they would have to make a hard decision, at dinner he would have frozen yogurt for dessert, he would lose someone he loved, there would be betrayal in his life, and -

'AIEEEEEEE!' Trelawney screamed. Valdaen hurried over.

'My dear, what is the matter?'

'THE GRIM! IN THAT CUP LIES THE GRIM!' Trelawney shrieked, and many people struggled not to laugh.

After most of the commotion had died down a bit, Fang took Trelawney's cup and looked at it.

'Box for great loss of dignity. Owl. Respect. Gold. Prosperity and riches.' he stated.

'Oh, Fang! How can you be so calm? It's terrible! You're going to die!' Trelawney cried. Valdaen ignored her, staring into the cup in a trance like state.

'Yes. I am going to die. Just like everyone else.'

Trelawney wailed.

-o-o-o-o-

'What's this 'grim'?' I asked Lily as we walked to Muggle Studies.

'Oh, that. It's a death omen. Trelawney sees it everywhere.' Lily rolled her eyes, but looked slightly concerned. 'Anyhoo, she's predicted it for so many people, and none of the are dead.'

'That's good.' I said. 'Not that she predicted it for a lot of people, but that they didn't die.'

'Yeah. It is, I guess.'

-o-o-o-o-

'Welcome to Muggle Studies. For the newcomers, I am Professor Chantez.' a freakishly cheerful voice said. The voice belonged to a woman with long brown hair, blue eyes, and a freakishly huge and genuine grin. 'Today we will be learning about what muggles do to get around without magic. Specifically, how they travel. Max, Fang, there are a couple of spare seats down the back.'

Fang and I moved to sit where she indicated. We both took out parchment, ink, and a quill, and started taking notes on bicycles.

About halfway through the lesson, the notes on my parchment disappeared, and it was replaced by writing.

_Hello, Maximum._ the writing said. I nearly freaked out.

_Sirius, you're scaring her. Max, it's us, ignore Sirius, he's touched in the head. - RL_

I read Remus' message and immediately felt better. He then told me how to spell my parchment.

_It worked. - MR, _I wrote.

_Of course it did. - JP_

_Hi, guys! - PP_

_What do you think you're doing? You all should be taking notes! - LE_

_Lily? - MR_

_Yeah. - LE_

_Well, if you think we should be taking notes, why don't you do it yourself? - SB_

_Shut up, Black. - LE_

_Hey, Lilykins, go out with me? - JP_

_NO! -LE_

_What did I miss? - FA_

_Fang? - MR_

_Who else? Jolly old Saint Nick? - FA_

_Shut up. - MR_

_Oh, and Lily, me and Fang already know about bikes. We used to live as muggles. - MR_

_Ok... if you're sure... - LE_

_You tell her, Max! - SB_

_Yeah! - PP_

_Shut up, Black, Pettigrew. - LE_

_My mother bought me a bicycle for my birthday last year. She's a muggle. I spent a while tinkering with it, and now I know how to use it. - RL_

_Remmy showed me! - SB_

_DO NOT CALL ME REMMY. - RL_

_Fine, if you're all sure then! - LE_

_Are you angry at us? - RL_

_No, not really. I should be, but I'm not. Not at you, Max, and Fang, anyway. The others, yes I am angry. - LE_

_Sorry, Remmy. - SB_

_I SAID/WROTE **DO NOT CALL ME REMMY**. - RL_

_But it's fun! - SB_

_We'll discuss this later... - RL_

_Fine, fine. - SB_

_... - FA_

_Yeah, I know Remus is weird. - SB_

_Not him, you. - FA_

_I respect that! - SB_

_It's 'resent'. - RL_

_Really? - PP_

_Yes, really. - LE_

_Evans, you are so smart! Just like me! We're a perfect match! - JP_

_Piss off, Potter. AND WE ARE **NOT** A PERFECT MATCH, YOU ARROGANT SWINE! - LE_

_Ooh... - SB_

_Ooh... - PP_

_Shut up. - LE_

_But we can't shut up on paper. - SB_

_*glare* - LE_

_Ah, no not the glare! - SB_

-o-o-o-o-

'And we will be going to a muggle camp in a few weeks time. We will do what muggles do without magic for three days.' Professor Chantez said cheerfully. 'Please put your name down on the list at the end of class if you want to go.'

-o-o-o-o-

_Sounds fun. - MR_

_Yeah, and it'll piss my parents of majorly... LET'S GO! - SB_

_? - MR_

_Sirius, she doesn't know. Explain. - RL_

_Why can't you do it? - SB_

_It's your family. - JP_

_Yeah. - PP_

_Yep, even though I don't know what you're talking about. - MR_

_I'm with Max. - FA_

_I agree with everyone other than Black for this one. - LE_

_She agrees with me! - JP_

_Only because I have to. - LE_

_Oh. - JP_

_Oh. - PP_

_Why is everyone ganging up on me? - SB_

_That's your problem, now explain. - RL_

_Ok, my parents are 'pureblood maniacs' I suppose you could say. They believe that only pureblood wizards and witches should be allowed to learn magic. If they had their way, you, Fang, Remus, Lily, and every other halfblood or muggleborn wouldn't be here. Fortunately, Dumbledore disagrees. - SB_

_Wow. I don't like your parents already. - MR_

_*nods* - FA_

_Must you be silent even on paper? - MR_

_*nods* - FA_

_... - RL_

_... - SB_

_... - JP_

_What? - PP_

_Oh, okay then. - PP_

_... - PP_

_Anyway, we should go on this muggle camp thing. - RL_

_All in favour say 'aye'! Aye! - SB_

_Aye. - RL_

_Aye. - JP_

_Aye. - PP_

_Aye. - LE_

_Aye. - FA_

_Aye. - MR_

_Agreed. We will go on this muggle trip camp thing. - SB_

_*rolls eyes* - RL_

_*snorts* - JP_

_*snorts* - PP_

_Must you do everything James does, Peter? - SB_

_James? He asked me a question. What do I do? - PP_

_LOL! - FA_

_ROFL! - SB_

_ROFLMAO! - RL_

_LMAO! - JP_

_Oh. Okay, then. LMAO! ;) - PP_

_What does that mean, anyway? - PP_

_Laughing my ass off. - JP_

_Oh. And lol, rofl, and roflmao? - PP_

_Rolling on the floor. - SB_

_Laugh out loud. - FA_

_Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off. - RL_

_Oh. - PP_

_So, Peter, what's your answer? - SB_

_LMAO! - PP_

_... - RL_

_... - MR_

_... - SB_

_... - FA_

_... - JP_

_... - PP_

_Hey, James, dare you to write that you're an asshole. - SB_

_I'm an asshole. - JP_

_Not falling for that, guys. - PP_

-o-o-o-o-

When the lesson ended, we all signed our names on the parchment. Chantez smiled her freakishly big smile at us.

'See you on the trip then!'

-o-o-o-o-

The day passed, and nothing remarkable was done, unless you count the magic itself. Fang did explode a cauldron in Potions, though, and Sirius dropped a book on James' head in Charms, and I transfigured Snape's quill into (possibly poisonous) toad.

It was an accident.

Really, I swear.

-o-o-o-o-

During dinner, I noticed that Remus was missing, but I let it go. We all had our reasons.

Dinner was good, but that's not saying much considering that just a while ago I was dumpster diving. So I suppose anything I said about food would have almost no meaning, unless I said it was bad, which would make it really really awful. Oh, well.

Anyway, dessert was _not_ frozen yogurt, so Trelawney was wrong. Good. I don't like her. I mean, she predicted my boyfriend's death! And yes, I said boyfriend. Me and Fang are making it official, after much bugging from the flock, and now the Marauders and Lily. I mean, is it that obvious?

Knowing us, it probably is.

-o-o-o-o-

That night, I flopped onto my bed, exhausted. Lily had made sure that all my homework was done before she let me sleep. I was grateful, because, it's me, and I've almost never had to hand in work on a deadline, so I probably would've forgotten about it and not done it. I don't need to get on the teachers' bad sides right away, do I? Not with homework, anyway.

Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, and I gave in to my subconcious, and slept.

-o-o-o-o-

I woke up to find my blankets half falling off the bed, and my head was under the pillow, which was next to my knees. _It must've been a nightmare_, I figured, because usually I didn't sleep that violently.

I gathered my things, and got dressed. I saw that no one else was awake yet, but I headed downstairs to the common room to wait for the boys.

Eventually my waiting paid off, and a bleary eyed Sirius walked into the room, followed by the others. Fang looked like he'd slept as well as me, which wasn't well.

-o-o-o-o-

'Max? Hellooooo? Maaaax?' Sirius waved his hand back and forth in front of my face. I slapped it away.

'Sorry, just tired. Didn't sleep that well.' I murmured.

'It's okay. And we were just discussing -'

I tuned out, and rested as best I could without actually falling asleep.

-o-o-o-o-

Double Transfiguration was uneventful, but I was more alert, so when Remus walked in during lunch, looking like crap, I might add, I actually noticed.

'Hey, what happened to you?' I asked, taking in his damaged appearance.

'Went to my grandmother's funeral. Crashed my broom on the way back...'

I didn't believe him, but I let it slide.

'My, uh, condolences? Is that the word?'

'Yeah, it is, and thanks.'

-o-o-o-o-

I was unlucky enough to run smack bang into Snape after dinner. Well, not him, but his friend, who was standing next to him. Close enough.

'And who are you?' I hissed to the blonde boy.

'Lucius Malfoy, mudblood.' he hissed back.

I was about to say something back, but Nudge came and interrupted me.

'Hey, Max!'

'Hi, Nudge!'

It was nice of her to come and see me.

But it turns out that she wasn't here to see _me_.

'Hey, Lucius, Ro sent me to see if you were still up for that game of Exploding Snap. So, you in?' Nudge said.

'Sure am. Let's go. Coming, Severus?' Lucius replied, completely ignoring me.

'Nudge? Can I have a word?' I asked. 'In private?'

I didn't like the fact that Nudge didn't answer straight away, but rather, looked at Malfoy like she needed his permission.

-o-o-o-o-

'You're friends with a _Malfoy_?' I asked. Sirius had told me all about 'pure blood mania people'.

'Yes, because he's actually a _nice person_! Unlike those people you call your friends! Sirius Black, really? I thought you knew better, but now I see! Finding your mum and your sister made you soft! Don't you _remember_when you were the one scolding me for wanting to find my parents?' she said.

'Nudge, are you aware of what these people do?'

'Listen, Max. It's not my fault you made the wrong friends, so don't try and pin this on my friends!'

'What?' I reeled backwards, shocked.

'Yeah, you heard me right. You have the wrong people as friends. You're in the wrong house. The Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, didn't it? That's where you should be. It's where great people are created.' Nudge's voice shook.

'What?'

'Max, don't you _know_? They teach me things, like how to protect myself. They care about me. You just left me behind and went prancing off with Fang and your new friends. Iggy knows. He understands, and he doesn't judge me. I just feel like I can't confide in you anymore. You're so... self absorbed now. Don't forget, we're not normal. _You_ told me that. We'll never be normal.' Her dark eyes, normally so cheerful, brimmed with tears.

'Nudge, what happened to you?' I asked, desperate.

'The real question is, what happened to _you_? And just by the way, my name _is_ Monique. Maybe you should use it sometime.'


	4. Firewhiskey

**So, uh, I found out how much of a gigantic douche I used to be, with all my Slytherin/Peter bashing. Oh, those were woeful times. But anyway, I've fixed some stuff, so hopefully it's less crappy. :) Um, if you were reading this because it was shit, and you got laughs out of it, I'm sorry to have to make it halfway decent, I really am. Sort of.**

**As usual, don't own.**

**Oh, and thanks to _LunaLovegood and DannyPhantom_ for the offer to adopt. I'm still deciding on that, but I'll let you know.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Firewhiskey**

'Max, wake up!' Lily bent over me. I was instantly awake. Good old paranoia. It's really good for getting me up in the morning.

'I'm up, I'm up...' I muttered.

'Hogsmeade today!' another girl, Trina, said cheerily.

'Oh goody.' I mumbled.

'No, really, it's awesome. There's the _best_ stuff there.' Lily told me.

'Are you and Fang going?' Trina asked.

'Of course.' I said. 'Why wouldn't we?'

'No, as in, on a _date_.'

'Oh. Right. Not really, since everywhere we go alone turns out to be...' I trailed off, not sure how to continue. The other girls nodded knowingly. I blushed.

'That's nice. So you and Fang are, like, permanent?'

'Yeah, I guess so.'

'Think of all the poor guys who thought you were available when you first stepped in. I pity them.' Lily smiled.

'I tend to think of all us poor girls who admired Fang.' Chanelle muttered, also smiling. I grinned at them.

'Well, he's all mine so stay away, otherwise I'll hit you with my glittery, pink purse!' I said, using a high pitched, possessive, obssessive, childish voice. They laughed, and I laughed with them.

-o-o-o-o-

'Fang... are you up?' Sirius asked.

'Yes...' came the muttered response.

'Hogsmeade!' James cheered, and danced.

'Yay!' Peter squeaked.

'Aren't you excited?' Sirius asked, grabbing Remus and spinning him around while Remus glared, and kicked Sirius' feet out from under him. 'Ow...'

Fang shrugged, and Sirius dragged him up. Fang quickly tripped Sirius, and retreated with dignity back to his bed.

'BE EXCITED!' James yelled.

'I'M EXCITED!' Peter shouted.

-o-o-o-o-

Down at breakfast, an owl, specifically, my owl, flying towards me. It landed somewhat gracefully on the table, and dropped the letter, before flying away again. I took the letter, and opened it.

_Max,  
How is everything going? We haven't heard  
from you yet, and we want to know everything.  
What houses are you in? Are you all happy?  
Do you have any friends? Are you and Fang  
dating? Nothing much is happening over here,  
and Ella and Gazzy say hi. Gazzy and Angel are  
happy, but Angel keeps disappearing, but she  
comes back every night. She says that she  
made a new friend at school, but we're not  
so sure. Please write to her, she'd be more  
willing to talk with you. Is Hogwarts as good  
a school as they make it out to be? We hope  
so, and we heard that the grounds are really  
beautiful, so maybe you could send us a picture?_

The letter was signed by both my mother and Jeb, I noted with distaste. I still didn't trust Jeb. He was capable of killing us if it suited his purposes.

-o-o-o-o-

Later that day, after much hexing of Snape, the Marauders and I arrived at Hogsmeade, all of us (except Fang) grinning like idiots. I was excited, actually. I heard a lot of good stuff about this place, and it seemed good.

'So, where to first?' I asked, surprisingly cheerful.

'Honeydukes!' Remus replied instantly, and the others grinned. We, me and Fang, followed them to Honeydukes, and admired the sweets that adorned the shelves. It was utter heaven. After buying heaps of chocolate, we exited, and Sirius gave me a lollipop looking thing. I took it hesitantly.

'Thanks?' I said suspiciously.

'Don't eat it, Max. It's an acid pop.' Fang told me, and I smacked Sirius, and shoved the acid pop into his mouth, and he whimpered, and left to heal his mouth.

-o-o-o-o-

Later, Sirius' mouth was healed, the acid pop was gone, and we were at Zonko's. I laughed as Sirius ran around, practically bouncing, at pointing out everything to me and Fang. He was almost giggling... 3... 2... 1... THERE! I KNEW IT! HE GIGGLED! Like the creepy childish creature he is! Really nice accepting childish creature, but still.

'Hey, Max, Fang, wait!' I turned, and saw Iggy.

'Ig!' I shouted. I hadn't seen him in ages. Well, I saw him at meals and stuff, but that didn't count. 'How've you been?'

'Well, everything's pretty cool. Classes are great, and I've met all these great people. Also, Nudge got herself a boyfriend.'

'What? Who?' I shrieked, hardly believing the bad news.

'Regulus Black.'

'My little dark wretch of a brother.' Sirius put in, and I looked at him with shock.

-o-o-o-o-

The Marauders took us all, me, Fang, and Iggy, to the Three Broomsticks, where they ordered us butterbeer. I drank shakily, having heard about Sirius' little nightmare of a brother. Fang looked tense, and somewhat angry.

'I don't believe it!' I cried, after I was sloshed on butterbeer. As sloshed as a human avain hybrid could get on butterbeer, anyways. Which wasn't much. So I was more or less still sober. 'We let her come here, and she picks up the wrong friends, hooks up with the wrong boyfriend, and just yesterday at Divination, Valdaen told me that I would face harsh choices and bad news! All because of Nudge!' I whispered harshly.

'It's not Nudge's fault, Max.' Sirius said, looking concerned. Actually, they all looked concerned.

'What? So now you're blaming me?' I was hardly able to believe my ears. What did I have to do with this?

'No, I'm not. I'm blaming Lucius Malfoy. This was his trap, his fault.' Sirius said calmly. I thought about his words, and they made sense. I inhaled deeply, and Fang wrapped his arms around me.

'Don't worry. It'll be fine, in the end.' Fang murmured into my ear. I nodded.

'Sorry.' I said, at a normal volume.

'Sorry for what? Nothing happened.' James said. I felt better immediately. They knew I didn't want to acknowledge it, and let it slide. I smiled shakily.

'Now, before we go...' Sirius muttered, and called Madam Rosmerta, ordering something quietly.

A few minutes lator, the Rosmerta arrived with several bottles of... something. Sirius pushed one over to me.

'Firewhiskey.' he said, and took a gulp out of his own bottle. The others, including Fang and Iggy, followed suit. I reached hesitantly for mine, and put it to my lips, sipping a tiny sip.

'Wow.' I said, quickly draining the rest of the firewhiskey. I grinned. 'I think... that I'm a little perky now.'

James, Sirius, and Remus exchanged a glance.

'Is that good?' Peter asked.

-o-o-o-o-

'Let's visit the Shrieking Shack!' I exclaimed, unusually high. Firewhiskey had a weird effect on my body, one that no one else seemed to get, except maybe Peter.

The original four Marauders exchanged glances again, but this time somewhat apprehensively.

'Sure.' James said carefully.

I danced over the the shack, looking around for the spirits that were supposed to inhabit it.

'Where are the spirits?' I asked. My back was to the others, so I couldn't see a weird expression flicker over Remus' face.

'Max.' Iggy said, nearly laughing. 'First, I think you're drunk. Second - '

I cut him off. 'Me? Drunk? Me? Maximum Ride, drunk? Over one bottle of firewhiskey? Yeah, you keep believing that.'

'Oh, I will.' Iggy muttered. 'Second,' he continued more loudly. 'You can't see spirits.'

'Oh. Right. I knew that.' I said.

'_Suuuure_.' Fang said disbelievingly.

'I did! I did!'

'Waaay deep down, right Max?' Remus smirked at me. I glared at all of them.

-o-o-o-o-

We returned from Hogsmeade sometime later, and we were all bored. So Sirius, being Sirius, decided that we should find out more about each other through Never Have I Ever. You know, the drinking game. But Fang agreed, so I joined, albeit reluctantly, so Sirius passed us all some firewhiskey.

My first thought: what the hell is firewhiskey, anyway?

My second thought: what if somehow they find out that we have wings?

My third thought: oh, to hell with caution! Let's get drunk!

The third thought was after we'd all had a couple of sips to prepare, and I was even more sloshed.

Sirius went first. 'Never have I ever mown a lawn.'

No one drank.

James was next. 'Never have I ever eaten so much chocolate I threw up.'

Peter drank.

Peter's turn. 'Never have I ever spent four hours styling my hair.'

Sirius and James drank, much to everyone's amusement.

Fang was sitting next to Peter. 'Never have I ever been so drunk I snogged someone by mistake.'

James drank. I looked at Sirius, surprised.

'When I snog someone, it's on purpose.' he explained. Ugh. Didn't need to know that...

My turn. And I had no idea what to do. Crap. 'Uh, never have I ever been inside the Shrieking Shack.' I said. The door had been locked and boarded up, so we couldn't get inside.

Remus drank.

'Never have I ever drank expired milk.' Sirius drawled.

Peter blushed, and drank. I raised an eyebrow. Fang, of course, did nothing.

'Never have I ever sneezed so hard that snot came out and hit someone in the face.' James said, grinning.

Peter drank again, and I was mildly repulsed.

'Never have I ever flown through a cloud.' Peter squeaked.

Fang, James, and I took a drag out of our firewhiskeys. I guess that was the good thing about wizards. They assumed you were on a broomstick if you ever referred to flying.

The game went on, and eventually we stopped after Peter threw up at the sentence: 'Never have I ever worn pink fuzzy socks.'

Luckily, he made it to the bathroom.

-o-o-o-o-

It had been about a week, and I had a pretty good idea of what the Marauders were like.

James was the leader, the prank thinker upperer, and the owner of the invisibility cloak. He hated Snape with a passion. Mostly over Lily. James was absolutely infatuated with Lily, but she hated him. A lot. He was probably my closest friend, other than the flock and Lily.

Sirius was the other prank thinker upperer, and the executor of most of the pranks, and hated his pureblood family, and every other Slytherin, except his good cousin Andromeda. He was known as a rebel, and most of the girls fell head over heels for him.

Peter was the sidekick, who was usually underrated. Surprisingly, he was like the mother of the group, comforting them when they were upset, and boosting egos when necessary. He was pretty nice, if a little shy. I got the impression that his idiotic demeanour was just an act

Remus was the sensible one, who talked the others out of their more crazy plans, and made sure that they weren't caught too many times. He was the normal one (well, except for that time he disappeared and turned up looking like he'd gotten into a fight with a brick wall and a truck).

Fang was Fang, as always. My official boyfriend, second in command of the flock. I loved him.

Oh, hell. Did I just say that? My mind must have been affected by the firewhiskey. Yes, of course. I am drunk. I don't go around pronouncing my love.

Do I?


	5. Hazy Vision

**And yet again, my idiocy decides to take over everything I do, including this story. Ah well, I'm trying.**

**My bank account consists of money that does not come from owning Harry Potter and/or Maximum Ride. I wish it did, though...**

* * *

**Chapter Four Or Five: Hazy Vision**

'Hey, Max. Fang! Tomorrow we're going to that muggle camp thing! Aren't you excited?' James asked.

'Not really.' I replied. Fang shrugged. I rolled my eyes at his silence. It was so... so... Fang!

'BE EXCITED!' Sirius shouted, dancing. 'MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO BE SO MAD AT ME!'

As if to prove his words, the Black family owl landed on Sirius' head, pecked his nose, and flew away.

'Ow...' Sirius said, rubbing his nose. He picked up the envelope.

The red envelope.

The howler.

'_SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU SULLY THE NAME OF BLACK! I AM ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY SON! YOU, A BLACK, GO ON MUGGLE CAMP? RIDICULOUS! BEFORE YOU, THE IDEA WOULD HAVE BEEN LAUGHABLE! YOU WOULD DO WELL TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF REGULUS, YOUNG AS HE MAY BE!_' The voice of who I assumed was Walburga Black spilled out of the howler. It raged for ages, taking about an hour to say 'I hate you' over and over in different ways.

After the howler had ripped itself to bits, Sirius grinned. 'See? I told you so!' he told us.

-o-o-o-o-

At dinner that night, I ate. Duh. But what else happened, you ask?

Nothing worth mentioning.

Except that James was so excited about muggle camp that he actually jumped onto the table and started singing really loudly except he couldn't sing _at all _but maybe that's just because he never tried but it did sound slightly better after Sirius joined in because Sirius is a better singer than James but then Peter tried to join in and everyone was horrified including the Marauders and Sirius pushed Peter over face first into the chocolate cake therefore losing Gryffindor five points.

So it was pretty uneventful, other than me having to catch my breath after that ridiculously long sentence.

And afterwards Lily slapped James and called him an arrogant prat after saying hello to me, Fang, Peter and Remus, because she didn't think we were arrogant prats.

Ah, it's so nice to be considered better than someone else.

But then again, she didn't know about our wings.

-o-o-o-o-

After dinner, we were in the Gryffindor common room. Sirius was pacing randomly around the room, Peter was sprawled out across the largest sofa, Fang was on an armchair, I was in his lap, just because there was no where else, and the floor wasn't safe from Sirius' pacing, Remus and Lily were sitting together, sharing some book, and James was sitting across from them, glaring.

'Sirius, are you done pacing yet?' Peter asked.

'No, I'm not, so shut up.'

I didn't even remember why he was pacing in the first place, and from the look on his face when I asked, he didn't either.

-o-o-o-o-

**_Hello, Max. No time, no see, huh? Well, not really, since I see you all the time._**

_Please shut up. And you're hurting my sanity. No one who's sane has a Voice inside their head._

_**Oh, you'd be surprised.**_

_I believe there is a reason you're here? And not bugging some other poor soul?_

**_Be careful, Max. Don't let your guard down._**

Silence. How creepily annoying.

-o-o-o-o-

I reached my bed, and sat on it. I wasn't ready to sleep, not yet. I needed to get the nervousness out of my system first. It was weird, I know, I mean, me, Maximum Ride, nervous over what? A camp? No way, right? Well, I was. I got the strangest foreboding sense of danger. That still didn't explain the nervousness, I mean, it had been dangerous all the times we had been on the run, anywhere, really. So why now, you ask?

I didn't know. And it scared me.

'Hey, Max, what's up?' Lily asked, smiling. Another genuine-I'm-not-going-to-kill-you-no-sarcasm smile! Yay!

'Not much... just Potions homework... so yeah, I'm bored with nothing to do.' I replied.

'So why don't you do the Potions essay?'

'It's that boredom where you don't want to do anything.'

'Ah, I see. Well, the essay's not due for a couple of days, so you wanna get something to eat?'

'Sweet Merlin!' I exclaimed, faking shock. 'Is _Lily Evans_ really suggesting that I leave my homework until later? _Lily Evans_? What is the world coming to?'

Lily glared. 'I skip my homework sometimes, thank you very much. And did you want to go, or not?'

'Yeah, but why are _you_ raiding the kitchen?'

'I prefer giving business to the house elves. And I crave cinnamon.'

'That's... a little weird.' Like I could really talk. But whatever.

'Yeah, I know.'

'Let's go.'

-o-o-o-o-

We came back with cinnamon scones, and sandwiches. Cinnamon scones for Lily, sandwiches for me. What can I say? I may be a mutant, but I'm a hungry mutant.

-o-o-o-o-

After eating, me and Lily sat on our beds, and talked.

'So...' I began.

'So...' Lily repeated.

'What do you think of the Marauders?' I blurted.

'What do you think of the Marauders?' Lily asked at the same time.

'You first.' Lily said.

'Okay. Well, Sirius is kind of egotistical, but he's really nice, under all the arrogance and general douche-yness.'

'Douche-yness?' Lily asked. I shrugged, and continued.

'And James,' Lily winced, and I grinned. 'Well, he's a bit egotistical too...'

'A bit? Potter is so damn full of himself that his ego hits me when he walks into the Great Hall! It's that big!'

'As I was saying... James is a bit egotistical, yes, a bit, but he's really great, deep down inside, underneath all the pranks and stuff. Really.' I added when Lily snorted disbelievingly.

'Remus... he's pretty cool. We haven't talked that much, but he seems nice.'

'Yeah, he's quite sweet.' Lily smiled.

'And Peter has more depth than most people realise... It's kind of weird.'

'Yeah, he's a nice boy, but I think Potter and Black are bad influences on him.'

'Probably. Your turn.'

'Well, Potter's a dick, Black is annoying, I haven't talked to Peter much, and Remus is my friend. That's really all there is to it.'

-o-o-o-o-

I woke up feeling refreshed. I remembered that my dream had been about kangaroos (yeah, that was kind of weird), but that was all I could recall. Usually I didn't remember my dreams, unless they were 'Voice dreams', as Nudge had dubbed them.

But no matter, right? Today, we were going to be flying. You know, on a little airplane thingy, the little cramped ones that scared the holy hell out of me? Yeah, those ones.

-o-o-o-o-

Breakfast was nothing special, as usual. Me and Fang ate a lot, knowing that we would only be getting normal sized meals at this camp place. By now, everyone was used to us guzzling down food, so no one spared us a second glance. Chantez knew about our... conditions, so she would conjure some food for us, if worst came to worst, but she told us to just try and bear it for as long as we could.

So, basically, we were at her mercy.

Because a) we didn't have wands and couldn't do wandless magic, and b) she could do wandless magic.

Yeah. You know?

-o-o-o-o-

We had double divination with the Hufflepuffs, then after lunch we were leaving to go to the airport. Then board a tiny wobbling air-box. You know, an airplane...

Yep. I was going to freak.

-o-o-o-o-

Weirdly, Valdaen never showed up, so everyone just decided to chill, at which point James decided that now would be a good time to propose engagement to the absent Lily Evans, figuring that she couldn't say no if she wasn't there.

Everyone seemed kind of weirded out, except Fang. He was the same as always, just so damn Fang-ish.

You know... silent, unreadable, completely and utterly inscrutable, extremely sexy?

Wait... I did _not_ just think that. I _didn't_.

Oh, to hell with this! Who cares anymore? We're _together_ now, so I am allowed to declare that Fang is completely, totally, abnormally sexy.

I'll shout it to the world: FANG IS SEXY!

Did I just say that out loud? I better not have... why is everyone looking at me weird... please no...

'Max? Did you just...?' Lily asked, looking bemused.

'So, I'm sexy?' Fang smirked, while I blushed, mortified.

'Uh... well...'

'Max? Are you and Fang...?' Peter asked.

'Going out? Yes.'

'No... I mean...'

'Sharing a bed? No.'

'Well, that's still not what I meant...'

'Sharing _your_ bed? No.'

'Oh... well, that's okay then.'


	6. Detour

**So, uh, this is where it got _really_ stupid. It's embarrassing just glancing at it. I'm so so sorry. Please forgive me. Please?**

**And I still own nothing, except for this box which has 'Harry Potter rights' written on it in crayon. Sadly, I have discovered that it doesn't count for anything.**

* * *

**Chapter Six (if I remember rightly): Detour**

'So.' I said awkwardly, as we stood around looking like idiots upon discovering that our flight had been cancelled.

'Well, no matter.' Chantez smiled, but it was a little strained. 'We've still got the week off, so how about a regular camping trip?'

I had the strangest feeling this was not going to be any better.

-o-o-o-o-

Chantez decided it would be best to pull us all along by Side-Along Apparition, which, I discovered, made me throw up. Violently. Ew.

Fang smirked at me, and I had a feeling Sirius and James would've been as well, if it weren't for the fact that Sirius was wiping spew from his mouth as well, and James was still trying to figure out which way was up.

'Hey, Max. Drink this, it'll make you feel better.' Chantez offered me a bottle, which I chugged desperately. When I'd drained a quarter of it, I handed it back to Chantez with a muttered 'thanks', and she passed it to a Ravenclaw who's name I didn't catch.

As I was vanishing my vomit, a Slytherin boy approached.

'Shouldn't you be back in your dungeon, plotting to kill all the muggles?' I accused.

'Well, that was a little rude, wasn't it?' He smiled at me in a disarmingly friendly manner. He'd have to do better than that, though. I'd been smiled at before, and I wasn't dead yet.

'Whatever. What are you even doing here? I thought this was Muggle Studies students only.'

'I am a Muggle Studies student.'

'But - Never mind. What do you want?'

'You're Max Ride, right? Monique's cousin?'

I had to think for a while before I realised 'Monique' was Nudge. I bristled.

'Yeah, what's it to you? Asking my permission to turn her into scum like you?' I spat.

He raised his hands defensively. 'Whoa, whoa, just passing on a message... don't shoot the messenger and all that.' His smile changed to a smirk, which was just as, if not more, infuriatingly charming.

'Okay then, spit it out.'

'She says she's sorry, and that you know what she means. She also said that she doesn't want to upset you, she's just doing what she thinks is right for her.'

I scowled. How selfish, 'doing what was right for her'. Didn't she care about what _I_ thought? I'd kept her safe for all these years, and now...

'Do you want me to reply for you, or should I just leave you alone to sulk?'

Thankfully, Chantez interrupted my inner debate over whether or not I should punch him.

'Well, now that we're here, why don't we all get to know each other?' she said.

I stifled a moan. Please let this be a nightmare...

'Everyone sit in a circle!' Chantez exclaimed, beaming like this was the plan all along.

I plopped myself down next to Fang and Peter, who was fiddling with the grass restlessly.

'Well, um, how about we start with telling each other our names and our favourite colours? Why don't you start?' She gestured to the Hufflepuff girl on her left.

'Uh, I'm Rhea, and I, um, my favourite colour is green...?' she said shyly.

The Slytherin who had talked to me earlier was next, and I scowled, hoping he would notice.

'I'm Evan, Evan Rosier, and I don't really have a favourite colour. Oh, and Max, can you stop scowling at me now?'

I blushed, mortified that he'd pointed me out like that. Now _I_ looked like the one being an asshole.

Soon, I stopped paying attention, and names started blurring together. I was only vaguely aware that James was making eyes at Lily.

Fang nudged me. Evidently he had just finished his introduction, and now it was my turn.

'Uh... I'm Max, and I like... uh... red.'

There. Done. Now I could zone out again.

-o-o-o-o-

After finding out that Nadia Swan was annoying as hell, discovering that Lily's favourite colour was purple, being hit by a water balloon which Sirius had brought for 'muggle spirit', and laughed at by Evan Rosier, we had nearly managed to go through the whole circle.

'I'm Rose Adams, and my favourite colour is yellow.' The Gryffindor girl smiled.

Another Slytherin boy. I was now pretty sure they were plotting to kill us all in our sleep.

'Rabastan, and blue is my favourite colour.' Like Rosier, he seemed strangely nice for a Slytherin pureblood, but I supposed they had to gain our trust before they could kill us.

'Right, so I'm the last one!' Chantez smiled her freaky smile at us again. 'I'm Ashley Chantez, and I like the colour orange. Now, let's start pitching tents!'

Oh boy.

-o-o-o-o-

'Stupid... dumb... crappy... GAH! Just... ARGH! Why am I even doing this? WHY?' Tent poles lay in a messy pile at my feet, and my frustration rendered me pretty much incoherent.

'Having trouble, Maximum?' a voice whispered in my ear, and I jumped, then whirled around to face the person who had snuck up on me. Evan Rosier. Of course.

'Don't do that.' I said, hoping I sounded threatening.

'Do what now?' he replied nonchalantly, twirling one of _my_ pegs around his finger.

'You know what.' I snapped crossly. 'And give me back my peg.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' he said, walking away, peg still around his finger.

'Dammit! You - you _Slytherin_!' I yelled, running after him, and forcibly snatching my peg back.

'Oh, dear, did the big snake hurt the little lion?' he sneered, and I scowled even harder.

'Why are you even here?'

'Why aren't you?'

'That makes no sense!'

'Sure it does. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.'

That was when my brain imploded.

'Leave me alone! I haven't done anything wrong!' I stalked off, hoping I looked impressively badass.

I could feel his eyes boring a hole in the back of my head as he said, 'Believe what you like.'


	7. Long Way From Home

**Good evening once again, dear internet acquaintances. I revised this for the third (fourth?) time to match the rest of the chapters. I think I'm finally satisfied, or at least as close to satisfied as I can get, and will soon reward your patience with another chapter! Yay for me getting of my hypothetical ass and kicking writer's block in the face!**

**Also, even though I've been struggling through this for like, a year or something, I still can't claim ownership. There's something wrong with that... Or not. It's probably best I don't own anything, actually.**

* * *

**Long Way From Home**

I would be sharing a tent with Rose and Nadia. Thank whatever deity is up there for giving us three-person tents, rather than two. I think I'd have to kill myself if I was sharing with only Nadia.

After pitching our tents, it was still only one o'clock in the afternoon, so we deciding to splash around in the nearby stream.

I waited for Rose and Nadia (the latter doing her best to look like a whore) to change first before ducking into the tent to rummage through my stuff. I pulled out a dark blue pair of bikinis, a purple sunshirt, and a pair of black boardies, which would cover up my wings just fine if I kept them tucked in.

Dressing quickly, I saw a pen fall out of my bag, and remembered that I had to write to Angel about her weird behaviour. I decided to do that _after_ a swim though. I mean, I deserved a reward for being normal so far, right? Well, I thought so.

I remembered to zip the tent behind me as I left, and nearly jumped as someone's arms curled around me from behind. Recognising Fang's scent, I relaxed, and looked up.

'Hey.' I said.

'You look great.' he told me, playing with a lock of my hair.

'Thanks. I'd say the same to you, but I can't see you when you hold me like this.' I smiled teasingly, he smiled back. Well, slightly moved the corners of his lips upwards, but for Fang, that was a smile.

'Should I let go?' he asked.

'Hey, would you look at that! Fang's smiling!' I said at the same time. 'And no! Don't you dare let go, Fang!'

His arms loosened in response as he chuckled quietly, and I twisted around and pulled him into me.

'Nice try, mister.' I smirked up at him.

Suddenly, someone pulled me away from Fang, and dived into the stream, still holding me.

I pulled away, and surfaced to see Sirius' grinning face.

'SIRIUS! What was that for?' I demanded, brushing my wet hair from my face.

'You looked like you were getting a little _too_ comfortable, if you know what I mean...' he trailed off, and winked at me.

'Ugh!' I splashed him, and he splashed me back.

Soon enough, pretty much everyone was having a massive splash fight.

And it was awesome.

-o-o-o-o-

**_Good to see you're having fun, Max._**

Please, no. Let this not be happening...

**_You'd do well to listen, you know._**

_Did you really have to come while I was having the time of my life?_

**_Keep an eye out, it could be the difference between life and death._**

_Don't you think I know that by now?_

**_Your salvation comes in those who know. _**

_What?_

**_To be saved, they must know. Without them, your rescue party will be two-strong, and both will fall. _**

_What? _(man, I have a really great vocabulary!) _Why is there a rescue party?_

**_If you can stop him, there will be no need for a rescue party. But you cannot._**

_Who? Who am I failing at stopping?_

**_Protect her. _**

_Seriously, tell me who you're referring to. There's more than one dude and one girl in the world, you know. _

**_If you fight, the Key will die. _**

_Would it really kill you _(can Voices be killed?) _to make sense once in a while?_

The Voice didn't reply.

_Is that a yes?_

-o-o-o-o-

I grabbed a branch off the ground, and dumped it onto the soon-to-be fire. Chantez smiled at me, that ridiculously happy smile that just grated my nerves the wrong way.

Evan Rosier walked over with an armful, and I gawked at him. How did he find that much?

'Did you have fun ripping trees apart?' I asked sarcastically, shooting him a Look, which he ignored.

Actually, he ignored me altogether, which was kind of irritating, despite the fact that whenever he talked to me I wanted nothing more than to kick him where it counts.

-o-o-o-o-

The fire crackled softly, reminding me of all those times we'd sat around one, just the flock, all of us tired and quiet.

Was it weird that part of me missed those days?

When Nudge didn't know anyone called Malfoy, and Angel wasn't being weird?

When I though 'relax' meant 'no Erasers shooting the crap out of us'?

Yeah, it probably is weird.

-o-o-o-o-

Despite the comforting crackling of the fire, and the gentle warmth of Fang's body, I couldn't think of a single word.

_Dear Angel,_

Now what? Mum had taught me this, ages ago... Greeting, then... something else...

_How are you and Gazzy?_

I should probably include the dogs in there as well.

_How are you, Gazzy and Total?_

_I miss you heaps, and so do Fang, Iggy and Nudge._

Subtly, Max...

_What have you been doing recently?_

No, way too direct.

_What've you been up to?_

Well... close enough.

_Has Gazzy been blowing things up again? Did Mum make cookies?_

Yeah... okay, sound casual.

_It feels like forever since I've seen you guys._

Better not probe too much...

_Write back soon, okay? I really miss you. Give my love to Mum and Ella._

I smirked. I was definitely not writing Jeb's name there.

_Love, Max_

I scrawled a quick smiley face after my name, and wondered if that would be enough.

-o-o-o-o-

I stirred at the pot, staring at it, hoping it would magically tell me when it was ready. Chantez had decided that we should still stick to the muggle thing, since it _was_ technically a Muggle Studies excursion.

'How's that pot coming along, Max?' Chantez asked, eternally cheerful.

'Uh, good?'

She smiled a bit wider at my hesitant tone, and walked over. Feeling it a bit, she nodded.

'That's great! You can take it off now.'

'Um, okay, cool.' I replied awkwardly, fumbling with the tong-things, and nearly tipping the whole pot over a Ravenclaw named... uh... Will, or something like that.

I successfully managed to put in down without killing myself (or Will, who unwisely decided not to run away screaming), and smiled, feeling accomplished.

'Look!' I hissed to Fang. 'I cooked!'

He smirked at me. 'I think I'll avoid that one, just in case.'

I stuck my tongue out at him.

-o-o-o-o-

Morning dawned. I'd say it dawned bright, but it was just early. And dark. And cold.

Really cold.

I'd also nearly screamed upon waking and finding myself face to face with Nadia Swan. I'd convinced myself she was just a horrible, horrible nightmare.

Oh, how wrong I was.

But I could deal with her. And Gilderoy Lockhart as well. And Evan Rosier. And that other Slytherin whose name I've forgotten.

I mean, I'd dealt with Erasers, and Jeb, and Anne, and Max II, and everything else.

But somehow assholes are so much harder to deal with than death threats.


	8. Scraps of What Used to Be

**Good morning, young hobbits! However, if it is not morning, or you are not a hobbit, I will just say 'hello'. So hello, humans who are currently experiencing some time of day that is not morning. **

**I know it's been a while, dear readers, but I... got distracted. **

**But fortunately, or unfortunately if you hate me, _LoversForeverTogether _sent me a review which inspired me to write again. It mentioned one Evan Rosier, who I have developed a strong liking for, and sent me into fits of giggles for reasons which are not obvious, not even to me.**

**I think I promised someone an Iggy centric chapter, but that will have to be later, because I tried writing one earlier, but got stuck. Also, my 'N' key got stuck, so there might be a few Ns missing here and there. Apologies for all the awkward moments where Fang is called 'Fag'. **

**Also, I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter or Maximum Ride. However, I am now the proud owner of some apple juice. **

* * *

**Eight: Scraps of What Used to Be**

As we ate our breakfast - which, although it would've been considered amazing in our dumpster diving days, was downright pathetic by Hogwarts standards - I couldn't help but notice the disappearance of one Evan Rosier. Not that I was complaining, of course, but still, years of running from kidnappers had made me uneasy with people not turning up when they should be. Now, mind you, I'm not suggesting that Evan Rosier was kidnapped - after all, who'd want to kidnap a fourteen year old? And no, me and my flock do not count in that question. We're hardly normal, even by magical standards.

So as I devoured my second tiny box of cereal with milk that Will (the Ravenclaw I nearly killed when I cooked dinner) had somehow made from powder and water, I decided to oh-so-casually strike up a conversation with the other Slytherin here, gently probing him for information.

'Uh,' I stopped, realising that I couldn't remember his name, 'Have you seen Ev - I mean, Rosier this morning?' Oh yes, all hail the glorious Maximum Ride, master of the art of subtlety.

He turned to answer me, and I couldn't help being a little mesmerised by his eyes. One was ice blue, and the other silvery grey. The effect was rather disconcerting.

'He... left. Last night.' came the rather vague reply.

'Left to where? Why?' I asked, frowning slightly. I didn't like vague answers.

The expression on his face hardened. 'I fail to see how that's any of your business.' he said stiffly, turning away to both dispose of the cardboard box in his hand and shut down the conversation.

I frowned a little harder. I wasn't satisfied, or entirely convinced that they weren't secretly plotting to kill us, but pressing the matter would be awkward and suspicious.

Besides, it couldn't hurt to curb my paranoia a little, could it?

Actually, knowing me, it probably would.

-o-o-o-o-

Later that day, after an equally disappointing lunch, Chantez annouced, with a slightly wilted grin (perhaps she wasn't happy with non-Hogwarts food either), that we should all go on a short hike in the forest surrounding our camp. Sensing that this was not so much a suggestion as an order, we all complied, and soon enough, found ourselves ankle deep in thistle and dead leaves.

Nadia Swan, of course, complained about it all the way.

I trailed near the back with Fang, dawdling a bit to avoid Swan and Lockhart (who was not living up to his claims of being an expert hiker).

'Remind me to wait until no one is looking before I kill them.' I muttered to Fang.

Fang chuckled slightly. 'It could be worse.' he told me.

We walked in silence for a while, until our silence was interrupted by Sirius' shrieks as James pushed him into a rather large mud puddle.

'Mr. Potter, I am most disappointed in you!' Sirius said, imitating Professor McGonagall. 'Ten points from Gryffindor for your blindingly ugly mug!'

'Hey, uncalled for!'

They continued bickering. Remus merely ignored them, no doubt used to their antics, and Peter rolled his eyes and pointed out a colourful bird to Rose.

I became so engrossed in the scenery (or rather, imagining various scenarios which somehow all ended with me analysing the best way to fight in the tangled undergrowth, which, incidentally, was usually fly above the trees and hope the attacker didn't have a gun), that I didn't notice that we had pretty much circled around and were now about eleven feet away from the campsite until Fang nudged me.

'Over there.' he said, pointing to a tree which looked as though a bear had clawed it.

Dodging to the very back of the line, I quickly ducked through some plants that tried to smack me in the face and came to a small clearing. Fang followed me, only more silently than I had done, because, you know, he's Fang.

We gazed at the tree, which had large pieces of bark gauged out of it. The two trees next to it had suffered a similar fate.

'Hey.' Fang gestured for me to walk over to him.

When I had reached him, I realised something. From this angle, the slash marks on the three trees formed a straight line, as if the damage had been done by someone standing in this very spot.

'Wow, that's pretty vicious.' I mentioned. I looked down. 'Hey, what's that?' I pointed out two scraps of parchment surrounded by scorched leaves at the base of the tree closest to us. I knelt down, and picked them up. They both seemed to be from a letter, probably the same letter. I read it the first one, which appeared to be from the corner of the parchment, deciding it didn't count as reading other people's mail if it was just a signature.

'Most regretfully... someone.' I attempted to read the name scrawled on it, then showed it to Fang. 'Can you read that?' I asked, unable to decipher the swirling signature.

He peered at it. 'Antonin... something.' he said. 'Can't make out the last name.'

I nodded my thanks, and scanned the other scrap of parchment. 'My deepest sympathy... guardian, assuming... I had hoped... unable to find...' I read. 'Everything else has been burnt away.'

'It doesn't make much sense.' Fang remarked.

I ripped up the scraps as small as I could. 'Whoever's this was, they obviously didn't want other people to see.' I explained. 'It's the least I can do. I mean, I _did_ read it.'

'Max? Have a conscience? No way, man, no way.' Fang teased, and I rolled my eyes at him.

I let the ripped parchment flutter out of my hands, and we hurried to catch up to everyone else.

-o-o-o-o-

Stargazing proved to be as boring as all hell, if hell were boring, which, in my case, it probably would be. It would also be filled with assholes constantly annoying me.

Anyway, we all gazed at the sky, hoping to see something interesting, while Lockhart blabbered on and on about his apparent expertise at everything, which had yet to be seen.

'Oh, hey, look!' Sirius pointed at a cluster of stars. 'It's my crazy mother!'

We stared at the patch of sky he was pointing at for a while, before Remus said: 'No one else can see it, Sirius.'

'Well, it also looks like an elephant. See? Just there...' He traced it with his finger.

'Yeah... still nothing.' Peter said.

'Well, I think it looks more like a giant turtle.' James put in.

'All I see is some stars.' I said.

Sirius sniffed in disdain. 'You just lack imagination and epicalityness.'

'Not a word.' Remus told him.

'What did you just say?' James demanded. 'What the hell did you just say?'

'That looks like a bird.' Rose asked, pointing at another patch of stars before the argument could develop any further.

'Where?' Peter asked.

'Just there...' she replied, tracing it as Sirius had done with his elephant and/or mother a few seconds ago.

'I'm not seeing it...' Peter said.

Rose huffed impatiently, stood behind him, grabbed his hand, and traced it with his fingers. 'How about now?' she asked.

'Ohh... looks a bit like a bat.'

'It's an eagle!'

'Nope. Bat.'

'Eagle.'

'Definitely a bat.'

'Definitely not a bat! Eagle!'

'Nah. Still a bat.'

'It is _so_ an eagle!'

'Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging from a telephone wire!'

'It's a frog.' Fang said, sitting down against a log. Rose and Peter ignored him, opting instead to delve into insults such as 'toast-for-brains', 'whale-humper', and 'dickface'.

'It's still just some stars to me.' I told him.

'You can't see it from that angle.' Fang replied.

I sat next to him. 'Okay, so where is it?'

'Nowhere. I lied.' Fang smirked, and pulled me closer.

Our romantic bliss - wait, what did I just say? Ignore that.

The comfortable silence was not destined to be, however, and it was soon interrupted.

'I am not an ass-butt! I may be an ass, but what's the point of calling me a butt-butt? That makes no sense!' Sirius shouted at James, who, being the very epitome of wit, pushed him into a puddle. I was starting to believe that pushing people into puddles was some sort of bizarre wizarding ritual. It sure happened often enough to be.

Whatever. As long as they weren't pushing _me_ into any puddles.

Wait, scratch that. I'd just push them back. And then have a mud fight.

Because I, Maximum Insert-Middle-Name-Here Ride, am a mature, responsible member of society.

-o-o-o-o-

Pretty soon, we all got bored with stargazing. Half of us went to sleep, and the other half wandered off into the forest to play some game I'd never heard of. Must be a wizard thing.

So then it was just me, Lockhart, and Fang.

I was wrong before. That wasn't hell. _This_ was hell. Lockhart was rambling on and on about something I wasn't really paying attention to, and Fang and I were shooting glances at each other, both of us feeling the awkwardness practically raining from the sky.

You know, I never thought I'd be glad to hear Nadia Swan's nasally voice, but I was right now. I covered my ears as she yapped something to Lockhart, and proceeded to drag him away.

Mission: Get Rid of Pest accomplished.

Does it count if I didn't do it personally? I mean, technically, the results are still there, but I didn't do anything.

So it's not so much accomplished as just gone.

Oh well. I'm going to call it accomplished anyway.

'Max?' Fang asked.

'Huh?'

'Voice? Or just spacing out?'

'Just thinking...'

_About how much I love you. _I nearly said it, but stopped myself just in time. It wouldn't do to look like a mushy lovesick idiot now, would it?

-o-o-o-o-

I stirred, and blinked awake. The cold morning air made me shiver slightly, but strangely, my left side was still warm.

Ah. That would explain it.

I'd fallen asleep curled up next to Fang. We were both still outside, so it was lucky that we didn't subscribe to the notion of pajamas, otherwise we'd be freezing.

Someone should invent pajama jackets. Then maybe I'd sleep in pajamas. I mean, it's really cold in Scotland. Seriously. This is when it sucks to be a bird kid, because we have really high body temperatures, so we get cold pretty easily. I pretty much live in jackets.

I sat up, because Fang's arm was around me, and I was guessing I was probably cutting off his blood circulation, and that would suck.

Evidently, I wasn't as graceful as I had hoped, because my movement woke Fang.

'Morning.' I greeted.

'Mmf.' he replied, still half asleep.

He sat up suddenly, scanning our surroundings, old instincts kicking in.

'We fell asleep out here? Damn, no wonder it's so cold.' he said.

'Well, we're leaving today, apparently, so tonight you can sleep in a nice warm bed.'

Man, we were really getting spoiled. Now we were complaining about waking up cold and a little stiff, when several months ago, we were complaining about waking up to murderous Erasers. A year of this and I'd be a right little princess. Maybe I'd even wear a dress. I mean, I was already wearing robes, and that was pretty close to a dress, right?


	9. Home Again

**Have my munchkin friends returned for more? No? Well, at least the humans are still with me. Right, guys? Right? Guys?**

**'Nyways, I have finished my apple juice, and now own exactly nada.**

**Enjoy, my lovelies, and don't forget, reviews are my lifeblood, if the reviews cease to arrive, I will die, and my stories will stand unfinished, as a testament to the deadliness of no reviews (unless someone hacks my account and replaces everything with 'ass ass ass balls 8=========D', in which case there will be no warning to the fair citizens of the FanFiction world, and many more will fall as a result of not getting reviews). So basically, please review. I'd like to know what you think.**

**Now, an anonymous reviewer made a very good point. Iggy is blind and therefore cannot read. Thank you, I had forgotten, most likely as a result of his blindness being so trivial in the books, since he can practically do everything. Anyway, it has been fixed. **

* * *

**Nine: Home Again**

Iggy lounged on one of the sofas in the Ravenclaw common room, and smiled to himself. In his right hand was a Sugar Quill, which he sucked on idly as the fire crackled in the corner, and in his left was a letter not unlike a Howler, but much nicer. It was from Ella, saying that she missed him and hoped all was well. It was so nice to have some time to himself, to just relax.

Hogwarts was amazing, in his opinion. Even if it was the cause of some fighting between Nudge and Max (personally, he was siding with Nudge on this one), he adored his new home. The people were nice, no one questioned him, or his right to be here. He had a bunch of friends, and he was learning magic.

Best of all, he'd found something almost as amazing as flying.

Flying. Only, not with wings, with broomsticks.

Nick, who was in Iggy's dorm, second bed from the right (and inevitably reminded him of darker times, when Fang had developed the alias 'Nick', or, as Iggy preferred, 'Fnick'), was a Chaser on the Ravenclaw quidditch team, and had offered to teach Iggy to fly.

Iggy, of course, had accepted, and proved to be quite a brilliant flyer. He had natural balance from what he called 'real' flying, and controlling a broom came fairly easily.

Second best was, of course, that he had met Tess.

Again.

He remembered her from their school days, back when the Flock was living with Anne. Tess had been in his class, and they'd gotten on well.

From what he had gathered, she had moved to England after the Flock made their great escape, and Hogwarts had discovered her magic. Apparently the American system was a lot dodgier, and tended to skip over muggleborns. She, like him, was a Ravenclaw, and it was her footsteps that entered the common room now.

'Hey.' she greeted him.

'Sup?' he returned, standing up and stuffing the letter into his pocket.

'Not much,' she sighed. 'Bloody potions homework.'

He laughed, and asked, 'Anything I can help with?'

'Yeah.' she replied. 'Everything. You know I'm rubbish at potions.'

He laughed again, and let her lead him to the library.

-o-o-o-o-

'I'm sorry.'

'What?' Nudge said, confused, sitting up.

'I'm sorry.' Hailie repeated. 'We shouldn't've been so mean. I didn't want to...'

'Oh, um...'

'It really wasn't my fault. I'm really sorry. I just feel so bad! But Aya said she'd never talk to me again if I talked to you, so... I'm sorry.'

Nudge considered. Surely it would be better to have one friend in her own house than to have none...

'It's okay.' she said.

'Really?' Hailie looked up, 'Can we be friends?'

'Yeah,' Nudge nodded. 'Yeah, we can.'

'Uh, hey, I'm going to play Exploding Snap with Lydia and Sara. Do... do you want to play?'

'I don't know how to play.' Nudge admitted.

'Oh, I can teach you! It's super fun.'

-o-o-o-o-

Chantez had sent word ahead, and some of those cool horseless carriages had arrived to deliver us back to Hogwarts, like one big, lovely package all tied up in brown paper and string.

Well, four medium-sized lovely packages, if the package referred to the number of carriages.

Anyway, that's not really the point. The point is, we were going back to Hogwarts, at long last, even though it had only been three days.

I would like to say that I climbed nimbly into the carriage, but I didn't. I was still kind of nauseous from apparating, and really tired from three days of dealing with Swan and Lockhart, so I all but collapsed in a dilapidated (what can I say? spending time around Remus and Lily will inevitably end in learning. Besides, dilapidated is a cool word) heap next to Lily.

'Well, that was certainly interesting.' Rose said, as she pulled herself inside.

'If by interesting, you mean a narrowly avoided disaster, then sure, it was interesting.' Peter replied, climbing in after her.

'Any more of Lockhart's bragging and I would have to use an Unforgivable on him.' James added, plopping himself down next to Lily, who inched away a little.

I let out a tired chuckle. 'I'd say 'Ditto with Swan', but I'm too magically-retarded to know what an Unforgivable is. Sounds like something she deserves, though.'

'No one ever told you about the Unforgivable Curses?' Rose asked, surprised.

I shrugged. 'They might have mentioned it, but I don't think I was paying attention.'

'When are you ever?' Fang asked, joining us.

'Well,' Lily began, 'there's these three curses: the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse. They're called the Unforgivable Curses, and if someone can prove you used one, it's Azkaban for life, or the Dementor's Kiss, depending on how friendly the judge is feeling. They're pretty terrifying.'

'What are they?' I breathed, mesmerised by horror of three Curses so bad that using one could get you as good as killed.

'The Imperius Curse is used to control people.' Lily told me. 'Severus told me that one of the Seventh Years walked down the wrong street in Knockturn Alley, and ended up under the curse, because some lunatic wanted to steal a bunch of stuff, but was too scared. Anyway, apparently it's the most amazing bliss, you're only vaguely aware of what's going on, and you _want_ to give in, because it's like a drug. The bliss is addictive, you want more and more of it. Of course, if you have the willpower, you can break free, but it's only rarely that someone manages it.

'The Cruciatus Curse is really horrible,' Lily continued, 'of course, they all are, but this one is the most painful. It's a torture curse. I read somewhere that it inflicts the most painful sensation in the world. And the worst part? It's all in your mind. It will never kill you, it will just break you. There's cases of people going insane after being tortured, sometimes for hours.'

'Wow.' I said. 'Those sound terrible... What's the third one, the Killing Curse, like?'

'Every book I've ever read calls it the worst curse of all. It kills you, just like that. Boom. Gone. There's no blocking it either. You can't fight your way out with your mind, you can't use a shield charm, and it will smash through most things you hide behind. The only way to avoid it is exactly that. Avoid it, run as far away as you can. We can only be thankful that the creator of these Curses didn't invent a target-seeking version. There's a theory that he was working on it, but one of his experiments went awry, and he was killed before he could finish the project. But don't take my word for it, that's only a theory, because no one could figure out if his death was a murder, or suicide, or what.'

Fang whistled. 'Damn.' he said, summing up the chaotic flurry of thoughts whirling around in my head in one word.

'But don't worry too much.' Rose put in reassuringly. Evidently I was not as good as hiding my outright terror as I had hoped. 'Only powerful wizards can pull them off properly, and not many of them do. The consequences of being caught is an adequate deterrent for most people.'

'I'd hope so.' I said, suppressing a shiver. Defense Against the Dark Arts had taught me that Dementors were definitely not something I wanted to mess with.

A slightly grim silence fell, like the Dementors had affected us without even being here.

It was, however, soon broken by Lily slapping James.

'Keep your hands _off_ me, Potter!' she shrieked.

'Hey, my hand slipped!' James said, holding up his hands defensively.

'Slipped my left sock! How dare you?'

'Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have done that! Please, just calm down! I'm sorry!' James begged, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

Lily scowled at him, but relented and sat back down.

'I'm sorry. Please forgive me? Please?'

'Fine, Potter. Just don't you dare do anything like that ever again.' she said, lips pressed tightly together in what I assumed was barely controlled rage.

Soon, the atmosphere relaxed, and we began reminiscing and cracking jokes.

Just as Rose finished telling us about the time her father had jinxed their shower to spray cake mix instead of water, we pulled into Hogwarts.

I smiled at the sight of the castle. Just three weeks here, and I already felt at home.

Well, except for all the times I got lost, but you know what I mean.

-o-o-o-o-

When I entered the castle, Iggy and Nudge were waiting to greet me. Iggy waved, and Nudge had an anxious expression on her face.

'How've you guys been? Have fun?' Iggy asked, and Fang began filling him in on the details, no doubt in one word sentences.

'Did you get my message?' she asked worriedly. 'Please say you understand.'

'I don't understand, not at all.' I said, and her face fell. 'But I accept your decision. You're not a baby anymore, so I'm trusting you to make your own decisions. Well, some of them.'

Instantly, she beamed at me. 'Oh, thank you so much!' she said, hugging me tightly. I smiled, and hugged her back.

Despite how exhausting being the 'mother' of the Flock was, whenever we're separated, I can't help being worried. These guys aren't a burden, they're my family. And lover.

Does a lover count as your family? Might as well, mightn't it? It's like being married, only without the married part.

Wait. I must be delirious from lack of sleep and proper food. I did _not_ just think that.

Actually, you know what?

To hell with that.

I can love someone and be scary and tough at the same time. What rules say I can't?

And if there is a rule that says that, well, rules are made to be broken.

So guess what, world? I, Maximum Ride, non-girly-girl and badass extraordinaire, am in love.

With Fang.

So there. I said it. What're you going to do about it?


	10. Obligatory Slytherin vs Gryffindor Match

**Just so you know, updates will probably slow down a bit, because I'm writing both this and another fic at the same time. The other one won't be published until it's done to avoid long hiatuses like this one, so just because I don't look like I'm doing anything doesn't mean jack. But you might be right. Depends, really.**

**'Nyways, it will come as no surprise that I don't own the characters or world described in the story.**

**Hey, let's see if we can hit a hundred reviews! Only six more to go! I've never been this close... Please?**

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**Ten: Obligatory Slytherin vs. Gryffindor Quidditch Match**

'Nghh...' I rolled over, and mentally prepared myself to face another day.

It had been a week since we'd returned from the terrible camp of which I shall never speak again, and I was still dead tired. Fang and I were getting along better than ever though, and I couldn't help but smile every time thoughts of him invaded my mind.

We hadn't talked about the letter, or rather, scraps of letter, that we had found in the forest, and I knew that even if we did, there was nothing we could do, or should do, about it.

Letters are private affairs, like the letter from Angel that had arrived two nights ago. I wouldn't want anyone reading that, even if it _was_ perfectly innocent.

She had reassured me that all was well, and Jeb had finally found a place that was big enough to fit all of us. We'd been living in several hotel suites before now, just waiting for the right place to come up, and now it had. Even if I didn't trust Jeb, or the source of his money, I trusted the money itself, and if it were sentient, I would've been proud of it as it changed from Jeb's hand into the landlord's.

It looked like everything was going pretty well. There was no news of Brigid or Mr. Chu, and the M-Geeks hadn't said so much a robotic, mispronounced word.

If I wasn't here, in a castle protected by magic somewhere in Scotland, I would've said it was too good to be true.

But since I _am_ in a castle protected by magic somewhere in Scotland, I think... it's still too good to be true, but I'll savour it while I can.

Anyway, I forced myself out of my warm, squishy bed, grabbed my clothes and all but fled back under the covers, huddled in a small, half-dressed ball trying to get warm. It was only October, and it was already getting chilly. Oh, sorry, I mean _chillier_. I kind of wish Hogwarts was in, say, the Sahara Desert, but you can't have everything, right?

-o-o-o-o-

I was one of the first down for breakfast, surprisingly. There were only a few others in the Great Hall when I entered.

The Gryffindor table was completely empty, but the other three houses had a few early risers.

Rhea, the Hufflepuff from my Muggle Studies class, was simultaneously dripping syrup onto her pancakes, writing hurriedly on a star chart, and talking to one of the Prefects.

Over at the Slytherin table, Evan Rosier had returned (I have yet to determine if that's good or bad...) and was stirring something into his pumpkin juice while holding what looked like an intense conversation with Rabastan Lestrange, who was sitting across from him, parchment surrounding them both. Yes, that's right. I finally learned his name. Yay me!

At last, my gaze drifted to the Ravenclaw table, where Iggy was laughing at something the brunette directly across the table from him said. She turned briefly, hair flying across her face, and spotted me, then turned back around. She must've told Iggy that I was here, because Iggy was beckoning in my general direction. I obliged him and walked over.

'Hey Max,' Iggy said, 'you remember Tess, right? From back in DC?'

Oh. I'd been hoping to never have to remember any of that. Anne, Pruitt, Max II, Ari, Lissa...

'Yeah, of course. Nice to see you again.' I said cheerily.

'You too. I was really excited when I saw Iggy here, you know? I thought I'd never see you guys again.' she replied, smiling widely.

'It's funny how life works out sometimes, isn't it?'

Tess laughed. 'You bet.'

I paused momentarily, stumped. Even after everything I'd been through, which had given me more 'real world experience' than I ever hoped to get, talking to people I didn't know well was sort of disconcerting. How on earth are you supposed keep a conversation going?

In the end, I decided to ditch it before it got too awkward. 'Well, I think I'll go eat. It was great to meet you again.'

'Yeah, same with you. Have a good day.'

I turned away, walking back to the Gryffindor table, where I sat myself down and grabbed some bacon.

'Well, aren't you a charmer?' Sirius laughed at me as I tore into my breakfast.

I tried to reply, but all that came out was 'Mmrph.'

'- and I think we can beat them this time, even though half the team is new. I mean, we have to win sometime, right? And I think today could be our lucky day!' James blabbered energetically to Peter, who nodded and smiled as if he wasn't really paying attention.

Remus was the only one to greet me conventionally. 'Morning Max.' he said, sitting down.

'Morning. What's James blathering about?' I asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. 'It's the first quidditch match of the year today. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and James is just itching to lose again. Almost every match he's played against them he ended up with his face in the dirt. Figuratively. Except for a couple of times.'

'It just seems like it's not meant to be.' Sirius shrugged. 'The Slytherin team is pretty good. Macnair is the captain this year, and he's crazy. Crazy and brilliant. He's got all the best players on his team, and done them up all nice so now they're twice as good as they were before.' Sirius told me. 'He's a beater, not like that's a surprise. What's really surprising is that he hasn't killed anyone yet, his hits are really vicious. Then they've got Rodolphus Lestrange for the other beater. Not as strong as Macnair, but hey, not many people are. His aim is pretty decent, though.'

'Sure, if by pretty decent you mean 'crazy-accurate'. He's practically a sniper, only with more bludgers and less guns.' James said. 'Sirius is just jealous.'

'I am not!' Sirius huffed.

'Sure, sure...'

'Right. So is that it? Do the beaters make the game?' I asked.

'You've _got_ to be kidding.' James exclaimed. 'It's the chasers! The chasers do all the work!'

'If you hadn't guessed, James is a chaser.' Remus told me.

'My cousin is a chaser.' Sirius mentioned. 'Bellatrix. She made the team. I guess that's good, 'cause now I've got an excuse to break her face.'

'I hear your good friend Rosier is a chaser too.' Fang said in my ear. I glared at him.

'Don't sneak up on me! How long have you been standing there?' I demanded.

'- and bloody Avery, he's a zippy little bastard of a Seeker, and then there's Mulciber...' James ranted, apparently not registering that no one was listening.

-o-o-o-o-

I pushed my way through the crowd, and joined Fang, Remus and Peter in the second row of the Gryffindor stands.

The teams were entering the field, the Slytherins in their majestic green, and the Gryffindors in blazing red. I could see Sirius talking to James, gesturing with his beater's bat while James nodded distractedly, scanning the crowd.

The Gryffindor captain, Max Someone, strode into the centre of the pitch, and shook hands with Macnair, who towered over him, grinning sinisterly.

With a wave of her wand, Madam Hooch released the balls, and threw the quaffle into the air. James lurched for it, but one of the Slytherin chasers, who I recognised as Bellatrix Black, snagged it first.

The announcer, who was a Hufflepuff who's name had yet to make itself known to me, helpfully provided advertisements for the players' brooms. 'Potter tries for the quaffle, but Bellatrix is faster than him on her _Emerald __Falcon_. The _Falcon_ line is one of three lines offered by the world famous broom-artist Anja Dreyer, and -'

He was interrupted by McGonagall clearing her throat tactfully.

'Right, sorry, Professor. Anyway, as I was saying, Black, the Slytherin Black, hell, I'm just going to call her Bellatrix, hope she doesn't mind, because this is getting really confusing...'

'Mr. Davis, if you are incapable of announcing _quidditch related_ items, I shall have to find a replacement.' McGonagall said, the microphone (or whatever wizards called it) catching her voice and broadcasting it to the whole pitch and helpfully telling me the announcer's name.

'Sorry, sorry, won't happen again...' Davis muttered. '_Anyway_, Bellatrix has the quaffle, she's quite quick, isn't she? Already halfway down the pitch! Marlene McKinnon doesn't look pleased, she's aiming a bludger at Bellatrix, but it's been intercepted by Rodolphus Lestrange, and Bellatrix has passed the quaffle to Augustus Rookwood already, so that was a little pointless, but whatever, because SLYTHERIN SCORES! First goal to Slytherin, and I'm not surprised, the team's looking pretty strong this year. Can the Gryffindors beat them? With Gideon and Fabian Prewett's graduation, the team had to scramble to find a new chaser and keeper, but they've done pretty well, I reckon, so they might just have a fighting chance...'

The Slytherin stands erupted into cheers. James took the quaffle and swerved between Rookwood and Bellatrix, who both lunged at him as he flew past. Evan Rosier descended on him, making a grab for the quaffle. James ducked, and flew as close to the ground as he could, hoping the Slytherins wouldn't risk it.

I saw him glance behind him to see Rookwood right on his tail, and whip his head back to the front to see Bellatrix and Evan Rosier. He soared as vertically as he could, then hurled the quaffle at Charlotte Laurent, who looked surprised, but caught it and continued towards the three hoops.

A bludger came streaking towards her, but Sirius managed (barely) to deflect it with his bat as she ignored it and kept going.

The Gryffindors roared (no pun intended, really) as Mulciber ducked a bludger and Charlotte took the oppotunity to get the quaffle through the left hoop.

'Ooh, unlucky for Slytherin. Ten all right now, and we've only just started. I hear the house rivalry is going pretty strong, so this could get really vicious...'

He was right, and soon Sirius was yelling verbal abuse at his cousin, who was screaming right back. Bellatrix was holding the quaffle at the time, and I could tell that Sirius was just itching for a bludger to come his way so he could smash it into her face.

Bellatrix passed the quaffle to Evan Rosier, leaving her hands free to make offensive gestures at Sirius, who was still trying to find a bludger to break her face.

I was paying more attention to Sirius and Bellatrix's argument, so when a loud bang resonated through the stadium, I had no idea what was going on.

'And holy sh- I mean, uh, wow. Longbottom's just ducked a bludger from Macnair, but I think it broke the hoop a bit. Hoop's still standing, but it's definitely a bit bent...'

That was... probably not good. No one had ever told me what happened when someone broke the hoop, but I was guessing that was bad for us.

Finally Sirius' wish came true when the bludger that had smashed into the hoop flew his way, and he whacked it in Bellatrix's general direction, only to have her duck beneath it while Rodolphus Lestrange smacked it right back at him.

'Wow, er, this is getting personal between the Black cousins over here, I think Sirius is actively trying to kill Bellatrix, oh, and Gryffindor scores, so now it's 140-130 to Gryffindor! But anyway, Sirius has just - oh look! I think Avery's seen the snitch! Either that or his broom is malfunctioning, which is unlikely since he's riding a _Harrier 920_, which, by the way, is another brilliant broom by_...'_

'Mr. Davis!'

It was then Sirius stopped attempting to mutilate his cousin's face, and hit the bludger at Avery, who was rapidly ascending into the clouds. The bludger soared after him, and I was tempted to leap into the air for a better view, but my good sense kept me grounded.

'I think that's the snitch there, that little sparkle, and Alice Prewett's going after it as well now, so it's a race to see who catches it first, the match could go either way at this point, so whoever catches the snitch wins!'

The two seekers had plunged back down into view, and Avery was clearly beating Alice. I didn't need Davis to tell me his broom was a lot faster than hers.

Marlene McKinnon found a bludger and whacked it at Avery, trying not to hit Alice. Macnair, who I thought was on the other side of the pitch, was at Avery's side in an instant, deflecting the bludger away from his seeker.

Everyone was staring at the two seekers now, and I could feel the tension rising. The snitch must have darted upwards, because both Avery and Alice were suddenly ascending, and Avery was stretching out his hand to grasp the snitch.

'Reducto!' Sirius shouted, frustrated and desperate to win.

Avery's pretty little _Harrier_ shattered into thousands of woody splinters, and he started falling.

'Holy mother of...' Davis said. 'Sirius Black just - I don't believe this. I don't fucking believe this. What the hell, man, what the hell? You don't just - GAH!' For once, McGonagall did not chastise him.

The Slytherins and a few of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs started screaming in outrage, and everyone else was just sitting in stunned silence.

My self-preservation was at war with my morals. Should I unleash my wings in front of the whole school, or let Avery splatter his guts all over the field? I knew that the first option was _right_, but the idea of not using my wings was so ingrained in me I nearly forgot I had wings.

The seconds I had spent arguing with myself were wasted when Macnair made a grab for Avery, and snagged his arm. Avery was clutching something in his other hand, something I recognised as the snitch.

'Uh, is that...? Bloody hell, Avery's got the snitch! Holy shit. Does that count? You know what? Screw the rules. It _definitely_ counts. Hell, if I could, I'd give them double points! Slytherin wins!'

There were no cheers from the Slytherins, only relieved sighs that their seeker wasn't on the ground being dead, and silent rage directed at Sirius.

'_SIRIUS!_' Bellatrix broke the silence as she jabbed a finger at his chest. '_Just what the hell was that_?' she hissed.

McGonagall intervened before it could become a (potentially deadly) fight. 'Mr. Black. Come with me.' she said flatly, and swept in the direction of the castle, Sirius trailing behind her.

I scurried down from the stands, and joined the crowd that had gathered on the pitch.

'Does this normally happen?' I asked Remus.

'No. That's why everyone's surprised and kind of pissed off. There are hundreds of rules, but the one that's probably been broken the least number of times is the one that dictates that you're not supposed to pull your wand on anyone.' he replied, frowning, clearly dissatisfied, most likely with Sirius.

'Hey, where's Sirius?' James ran up to us, looking frantic. 'Max is looking for him. He's really mad, Sirius is in for it now.'

'McGonagall's got him.' Bellatrix declared, overhearing. 'Tell your captain that he'll probably lose a beater.'

'Yeah, I know.' James sighed, not noticing that he was holding a civil conversation with Bellatrix Black. 'If McGonagall doesn't boot him off, well, Max might. He's been discussing it with the rest of the team. He's not all too pleased at having to handle Sirius' mess. And on top of all that, Macnair is out for blood too. If you thought Max was mad...'

'We're all... severely displeased with Sirius.' Bellatrix said. I instantly assumed that 'severely displeased' was a posh way of saying 'will kick his ass at the soonest available timeslot'. From the expression on her face, I was right.

'Hey, Bellatrix!' Rookwood called, and she promptly abandoned us, not bothering to say goodbye.

'Wow.' I said. 'Sirius is going have to deal with a lot, isn't he?'

'He's in deep shit, alright.' James agreed.

'Does this... Do you... You guys said you prank Slytherins.' I said uncertainly. 'Is this like that?'

'Hell no!' Remus protested. 'We don't _hurt_ anyone, we just steal their shoes and change their hair colour.'

'Yeah, this is the first time Sirius has done anything like this.' James said. 'It's crazy, he's always been pissed when we lose, especially to Slytherin, but this is just... over the top.'

'Hey, we were looking for you.' Fang told us, turning up with Peter beside him.

'Hey.' James greeted distractedly, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

'Looks a bit like the beginnings of a riot.' Fang mentioned.

'Nah, not enough burning cars.'


	11. Slots

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Maximum Ride belong to J.K. Rowling and James Patterson respectively. Since I am neither of them, I am (unfortunately) not entitled to any profit for using their characters. **

**As always, reviews are appreciated.**

**And this is the chapter where the plot finally arrives, late and frazzled, but better late than never.**

**I'm really sorry for the large gap between this chapter and the last. I wish I could say that it'll never happen again, but we all know that's not true. I'm also sorry this chapter is kind of a crapfest. **

**Also, an anonymous reviewer stopped by long enough to tell me that James Potter was a seeker, and "hadn't I read the books?" In answer to your question, yes I have read the books. I have also read an interview in which JK specified he was a chaser. **

**If you doubt me, here's the link. Take out the spaces and there's your proof: accio-quote . org / articles / 2000 / 1000-scholastic-chat . htm**

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**Eleven: Slots **

My boots crunched through the snow. It was late November, and in lieu of the Christmas spirit, we were going to Hogsmeade to do some Christmas shopping. I needed new quills, since I'd lost all of mine already, so they would be a pseudo-present to myself, from myself.

James had managed to land himself in detention, most likely for hexing Snape. I hadn't really kept up, I'd been too worried about Angel. Mum had sent me a few more letters recently, detailing her frequent disappearances.

'Max!'

_Thunk!_

'Hey!' I yelled at Sirius, who very wisely decided to duck behind a tree as I threw at snowball back at him.

A snowball whacked me in the back of the head, and I whirled around to see Remus laughing.

'Not fair!' I shouted, then giggled (in a very badass way, of course).

Snowballs came flying from what seemed like every direction, and I soon found myself buried under a pile of snow. I shook it off, and was extremely proud when I saw that Sirius was also soaked.

'That's what you get.' I boasted, just before Remus knocked me over with another snowball.

We ran shrieking and snowball-throwing all the way to Hogsmeade. (Just in case you didn't guess, 'we' refers to everyone except Fang, who trailed solemnly behind us.)

'Anyone fancy a trip to Zonko's?' Sirius asked, grinning mischievously.

Peter shook his head. 'Can't. I'm meeting Rose at the Three Broomsticks. I'll see you guys later, okay?'

'Oooh!' Sirius cooed. 'Pete's got a date!'

'Come off it, Sirius.' Remus nudged him. 'Let's go, and make it quick. I've got to go in ten minutes.'

'Why is everyone leaving me?' Sirius wailed, falling to his knees. 'I suppose you're leaving too, Max? Fang?'

I laughed, and tugged him to his feet. 'Nope. I'm with you all the way.'

'Yes!' he crowed, and grabbed my wrist, dragging me along as he sprinted to Zonko's. As always, Fang trailed solemnly behind.

We plunged into the brightly coloured, well-lit shop. Excited chatter echoed around the place, and I smiled. The cheery atmosphere was really getting to me.

'Here!' Sirius shoved something into my hands. I examined it as he pranced around. 'Hold that, won't you?'

It was a small turtle.

'Um, Sirius?' I asked, but he was gone.

I stood rather awkwardly in the corner, watching as other people shopped and gave me weird looks.

'So, uh, turtle.' I said, feeling stupid. 'Do you talk or something?'

_**No.**_

_Wait, what?_

_**Hello, Max.**_

I rolled my eyes. _Of course, I should have known. Say, instead of ominous foreshadowing, why don't you tell me why I'm holding a turtle?_

_**I don't know, Max. Why **_**are**_** you holding a turtle?**_

I got the feeling that if the Voice had a face, it would be rolling its eyes.

_I don't know, that's why I'm asking you! It wasn't a riddle or anything._

_**Oh, Max. Max, Max, Max.**_

_That is my name, yes._

**_You'll pull through. _**

I frowned, and instinctively looked down at the turtle. Maybe my subconscious had decided that the turtle was the Voice.

_Pull through _what_? Being tormented by a vague, irritating Voice who seems incapable of just saying things straight?_

_**You'll see. You always see, Max. That's what makes you special.**_

_You are so annoying. _

I shivered involuntarily, and hugged the turtle close to my chest.

Yeah, today wasn't my best day. I was kind of tired, and evidently out of it. I don't normally hug turtles, you see.

'Max!' Sirius exclaimed. 'You kept him safe!'

He promptly plucked the turtle out of my hands and hurled it to someone I didn't know.

'Let's go!' Sirius dragged me out, apparently having already paid for the armful of crap he was lugging around.

'Okay.' I said. I thought it would be better for us all if I just went along with it.

As it turns out, I was wrong.

Sirius stopped outside the Three Broomsticks, trying to push the door open without dropping anything. We all watched him, until Remus sighed and opened it for him.

'Peter!' Sirius called. 'Look what we got!'

'Over here guys!' Peter waved at us.

'Merlin, Sirius, haven't you ever heard of bags?' Rose asked, snickering.

'Hey!' Sirius shot her a look. 'I am Sirius Black! I need no bags!'

'Right...' I muttered.

As always, Fang said nothing and stood awkwardly to the side.

'Yeah, I'm just going to leave now.' Remus said, rolling his eyes.

'Don't you dare...' Sirius warned, but Remus had already disappeared. 'Dammit.'

'Okay, I think I'll head back.' Rose said, and Peter nodded. I narrowed my eyes. I had the feeling I was missing something, and I never had liked that feeling.

'See you.' I smiled in the my most friendly manner, trying to dissect her with my eyes. And by that, I mean discover why I felt like there was something going on that I wasn't a part of.

'Max...' Fang murmured to me, in a tone that meant that he wanted to talk in private. I obliged, and took a step away from the group.

'What?' I hissed. 'What's so important that you have to talk to me about it right now? In case you didn't get the memo, we're trying to build ourselves a normal life! That means cut it with the suspicious whispering!'

He sighed. 'I know.' he said, sounding somewhat resigned. 'But I can't help but wonder...'

He didn't elaborate. I knew what he was trying to pull. He wanted me to ask what he wondered, so I couldn't get mad at him for telling. I hesitated, then went for it.

'What do you wonder?' I snapped.

'Are we really doing the right thing?'

I paused. I couldn't say I expected him to ask me _that_. 'What do you mean?'

'We're in England, Max.'

'So? We've been plenty of places!'

'We're settling down here. Jeb and your mom have found us a _house_.'

'Yes, Fang.' I rolled my eyes. He wasn't usually this dense. Something must be really bugging him.

'Max, we're caging ourselves in. We shouldn't be doing this. We should be out there, helping people! Isn't that what we decided to do?'

'Fang...'

'We said we'd help. We promised.'

'Why are you suddenly getting on my case about this now? I thought you were happy. I thought you understood, at least, what it means to me, to us, to be able to find a place to call _home_.'

'Max.' Fang stared straight into my eyes, and I held his gaze, trying to figure him out. He had that look on his face, the one that told me he wanted to tell me something that I probably wouldn't like.

'What is it?' I asked.

'Brigid sent me a letter.'

'Oh.' I broke eye contact, looking down.

'She needs my help, Max.'

I noticed that he specified 'my' rather than 'our'. Brigid wanted him, and him alone.

'I promised her I'd give her a hand if she ever needed it, and now she does. I owe her.'

'You owe her nothing!' I hissed angrily. Stupid Brigid. How dare she ruin our peace?

_**Max.**_

_Not the time!_

_**Let him go. **_

_No, and shut up._

_**Let him go. **_

_Why should I? Tell me exactly why I should let him rescue Dr. Stupendous? _

_**LET HIM GO. **_

The Voice's words reverberated in my head, rattling around painfully like bouncy bowling balls.

'Go.' I hissed out, trying not to throw up. 'Just go. Go help her.'

He looked at me with concern, but didn't ask. 'Thanks.' he said.

_Come back when you're done, _I added silently as he left.


	12. Fission

**Look! Another chapter! Do I win?**

**Disclaim, as per usual: I own absolutely nothing here. I am a literary hobo, and no one wants to give me any change.**

**Review?**

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**Chapter Twelve: Fission**

'You okay?' Peter asked as I sat back down, looking concerned and sympathetic.

'Yeah,' I said, burying my head in my hands. 'I'm fine.'

'What was that about?' Sirius questioned curiously.

'Just... an argument I guess.' I replied vaguely.

'So, uh, you want to talk about it... or something?'

I considered the offer, then thought, _screw it. I might as well. Fang chasing after Brigid isn't exactly news of the century._

'Sure, but can we go outside? It's kind of hot in here.'

Strangely enough, I wasn't lying. It really was hot, but that might just have been my emotions getting to me. I was starting to sweat.

'Uh, sure, if you want.'

Sirius led the way out, me and Peter following him. We ended up behind The Three Broomsticks, Peter leaning against the wall and Sirius lying in the snow. I sat down awkwardly, wincing inwardly at the cold wetness that greeted my backside.

'So?' Sirius prompted.

'Fang's leaving.' I blurted. Peter looked at me sharply.

'What, leaving Hogwarts?'

'Maybe leaving the country.' I said, trying to hold back the tsunami of misery that was threatening to overwhelm me.

'Why?' Sirius asked incredulously.

I shook my head. 'He's gone to... to _help_ Brigid.'

'Who?'

'Brigid Dwyer. We helped her out once, and apparently Fang promised he'd be there for her if she needed help again, and I guess now she does. So he's gone off to find her.'

'Ouch.' Sirius said. 'That must hurt for you. Were they close?'

I closed my eyes, and admitted: 'Closer than I'd like them to be. And she's like, twenty.' I added, anger flaring up again, only to be defeated by jealousy and despair. 'But she's pretty. Really pretty. She has red hair.'

'Oh.' Peter said, unable to think of anything else.

We were silent for a while. I didn't mind. I wasn't exactly great at comforting myself, and I definitely appreciated the fact that they had tried. Besides, this way I didn't really need to cover up Fang's disappearance. I just hoped he would tell the rest of the Flock.

Sirius sat up and shook the snow out of his hair, looking past us as if he expected to see something.

'What -' Peter began, when Sirius gestured for him to be quiet.

'Can you hear that?' he whispered.

Laughter.

I wasn't sure how Sirius managed to hear it before me, but it didn't matter. Someone was coming.

'I recognise that voice.' Sirius muttered. 'It's Bellatrix.'

'Should we go?' Peter asked.

'No.' Sirius declared. 'We were here first.'

As it turned out, Bellatrix didn't even notice us. She was a little preoccupied making out with Fang.

No, I lied. It was Rodolphus Lestrange.

Peter shot Sirius a look that seemed to say, _Can we get out of here?_

Sirius either didn't see or ignored Peter, too busy staring at his cousin, a look of annoyance creeping across his face.

'Bella?'

The voice belonged to a girl, younger than me. At the sound of her voice, Bellatrix pulled away from Rodolphus.

'Damn.' Bellatrix whispered. 'I forgot I promised Cissy I'd help her pick out a present for Andy. Sorry.'

'It's fine.' Rodolphus replied.

They still hadn't noticed us.

Narcissa Black ran up to her older sister, and opened her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by a truck that came skidding towards us.

'What the hell?' Sirius exclaimed. Bellatrix whirled around, finally noting our presence.

'How long have you been there?' she demanded.

'Longer than you, you oblivious prick.' Sirius retorted.

Their argument was cut short when a man jumped out of the truck and approached us. He was holding a gun, which surprised me a lot more than it probably should have.

To be fair, though, it had been ages since I'd seen a gun. This was an exclusively magical area, after all.

Well, until now.

'I have come to collect you.' the man said. 'Please get into the truck.'

'I don't think so.' I snapped.

'I suggest you do as I say.' he said lightly, gesturing to the truck with his gun.

Narcissa started to back away, looking worried. The man pointed his gun at her and she stopped, dead still.

The reaction was instantaneous. Bellatrix leapt in front of her sister, pushing her backwards. Rodolphus lashed out at the man with a spell I didn't recognise, but looked appropriately scary. Even Sirius, who claimed his cousins meant nothing to him, stepped forwards and shouted incoherently in protest. Peter stiffened, unsure of what to do.

Rodolphus' spell seemed to hit some sort of barrier, and the man smirked.

'You can't touch me with your foul sorcery.' the man said, and touched the gold chain around his neck. 'I am protected. Get in the truck, please. All of you.'

'Why?' Peter squeaked. 'Why should we?'

'If you don't, I will kill you. Starting with the child.' the man replied, looking smug.

Rodolphus stepped forward, and punched him in the face. Apparently the man's (who I will now call 'Jack', for lack of anything better) 'protection' only applied to magic, and he hit the ground.

_BANG!_

Narcissa screamed. I flinched as the gun went off and Rodolphus collapsed. I wondered why no one was coming to help us. Surely the gunshot was loud enough to alert at least one person.

'Get in the fucking truck!' Jack yelled.

No one moved. Bellatrix looked frantic, desperately wanting to run to Rodolphus, but hellbent on protecting her sister, who was clutching her hand, eyes wide with terror. Sirius seemed to be frozen in shock. I noticed Peter was trying not to panic. I was finding it hard myself.

_Fang, why aren't you here? _I_ need you too_.

The world exploded, and I felt myself falling.

-o-o-o-o-

I was sitting upright. That was the first thing I noticed. Had I fallen asleep in a chair? The throbbing in my head seemed to think otherwise.

I opened my eyes.

_Ah_.

I was strapped to a wheelchair.

_Well, isn't this familiar?_

A pang of sorrow struck me. The last time I had been in this position, Ari had still been alive. Poor Ari. It wasn't his fault. If only things had been different, if fate had been kinder...

My wings were still furled up, so there was no hope there. Even if they weren't, I was pretty sure whoever had me wouldn't have been stupid enough to let me escape that easily.

I glanced around quickly, taking in as much as I could. I seemed to be alone. That realisation worried me. Where were the others? Were they here, wherever this was? Were they somewhere completely different? I didn't even know if they were alive...

_Okay, Max. What's the last thing you remember?_

I flipped through my thoughts, trying to keep calm.

The man - Jack, I had dubbed him - came in a truck. He had a gun, a shiny one. I didn't know all that much about guns, to be honest. Pretty much all I knew was that if someone was pointing one at me, I should probably duck and run. Or fly. Or drive. Or anything that got me out of range.

_Come on, focus,_ I reminded myself. _What happened next?_

Sirius' cousin, Narcissa. Jack had aimed his shiny gun at her. He was protected from magic. I should've punched the crap out of him. He wasn't immune to physical attacks, was he?

_No_, my brain told me.

But he had shot Rodolphus. That would be why I didn't kick his ass. Again, I wasn't exactly a huge fan of guns.

_And then...? _I came up blank. I had no idea what had happened next.

_Maybe I passed out? Is that how I ended up here?_

Where was here, anyway?

'The creature is intact?'

I looked up towards the doors, which was useless since I couldn't see through them.

'It is. I checked myself.'

'Good. You already damaged one.'

'I am _very_ regretful to inform you that it was, in fact, one of your colleagues who damaged him. Tell your employer that. I was forced to send in my own people to bring them in without any further harm. I suppose that's what happens when you send a muggle to do a wizard's work. No offense, of course.'

The door hinges began to creak. I stared at the doors defiantly as they opened. I wasn't going to feign unconsciousness; I wanted to meet the jerk who had captured me and my friends (and my friend's extended family, and my friend's extended family's boyfriend).

'We are able to fix the damage.' the man said.

'Thank you, but no. It would be foolish to waste a perfectly good shot. After all, who's to say that he'd survive another?'

'Indeed. There's no safe place to be shot, as I'm sure you know.' He shot her a sideways glance. She ignored it.

I decided to interrupt. I was sick of being ignored.

'So who do I have to thank for my current, very _lavish_, lodgings?' I sneered as the two people - a man and a woman - entered.

'It talks.' the woman's eyebrows rose. 'It is as successful a hybrid as I heard.'

'It does talk.' I snapped. 'And it also wants to kick your face in.'

'I apologise, Dr. O'Neill. If I had known how... _uncouth_ the creature was, I would have kept it sedated.'

I scowled.

'It is no matter.' she replied, then gestured to someone I couldn't see. 'Mr. Hunter, would you be so kind as to transport it to the vehicle?'

Her snobbish tone grated on my nerves, and if I hadn't been strapped down, I would have thrown something at her. I was about to make a snarky remark when I felt something being jabbed into my arm. Somehow, a man (Mr. Hunter?) had managed to sneak up on me and inject me with something.

'Hey!' I protested, struggling as best I could, but it was a complete waste of energy. I couldn't even spit at him, the asshole was too clever to stand right in front of me.

Hunter, if that's who the man was, started pushing me towards the door, the other man and the woman stepping aside to let him pass. There were several more people lining the hallway; bodyguards, probably.

The possibility of escaping seemed to be getting slimmer with every passing second. I could feel myself getting tired, and I had to fight to keep myself awake.

My eyes slid shut, and slowly, the sound of Hunter's shoes clicking rhythmically against the floor was the only thing I knew.

_I have to... I have -_

-o-o-o-o-

I hugged the thick blankets and curled up. It was warm here.

_Just a little longer. Five more minutes and I'll get up. Surely breakfast doesn't -_

I shot upright, throwing the previously welcome blankets to the floor. I wasn't in my dorm. I wasn't in Hogwarts. I didn't even know if I was still in Europe.

The small room was stark white, the only thing that disturbed the blank whiteness was the shadows cast by the overhanging lightbulb. The room contained only a metal-framed bed, which I was currently sitting on, but had two doors.

I stood up and paused, waiting to see if dizziness or some such annoyance would strike. Nothing. I flexed, making sure I wasn't injured. Again, nothing. What's more was that my wings were free. There were even slits in the back of the white shirt they'd stuck me in. I unfurled them slowly, enjoying the sensation after so many weeks of having them pressed flat against me. The room was just big enough to stretch out my wings, so I gave them a small flap.

I opened the door on the left. It led me to a room of about the same size, a simple bathroom. There was nothing of value to be found there, so I went to investigate the other door, which I guessed led outside.

To my surprise, the door opened easily. I peered around. An empty hallway greeted me, so I took a cautious step out.

Nothing happened.

I took another step, and then another. I flapped my wings, and smiled as I rose up off the floor. It felt good to fly again.

But why was I able to fly? Why was my door unlocked? It all seemed too perfect. Even the ceiling was ridiculously high, providing me with plenty of room.

Perhaps they had abandoned me here. Perhaps no one else was here and all the exits were sealed so I couldn't escape.

But no, that woman, Dr. O'Neill, she didn't want me 'damaged'. Surely she wouldn't go to so much effort to make sure I was whole if she was just going to leave me here to rot.

There was nothing here. It was completely silent, except for the light flapping of my wings.

It made me nervous.

But I made my way along the corridor all the same. After all, what did I have to lose?

After at least ten minutes of flying, I finally reached the end of the corridor. There was a door there, identical to the one at the beginning of the corridor, the one that led to the room I had woken up in.

Maybe they were keeping one of the others in here too.

I landed, put my hand on the knob, and opened the door.


	13. Gala

**Behold! A new chapter!**

**Again, nothing belongs to me.**

**Could I perhaps get some feedback? Please...?**

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**Chapter Thirteen: Gala**

The sight that greeted me was not what I had expected. To be fair though, I didn't know what I expected.

But it definitely wasn't this.

'Take a seat.'

I was in what appeared to be a large dining room, with a massive table slightly off to the side. Sitting at one end of the table was the woman from before, Dr. O'Neill. Seated next to her was the man who was with her earlier, who had yet to be given a name.

_Screw it. Might as well find out what they want._

I tucked my wings in, pulled out a chair and sat, glaring at them both.

'Now,' I said, trying to take control of the situation. 'Who are you and what the hell do you want?'

'I am Dr. Arya O'Neill, and this is my esteemed associate Dr. Luke Vincent.'

_Why is everyone who kidnaps me a doctor? Is this part of the med school curriculum or something? Capture a human-avian hybrid and dissect it for extra credit?_

'Great to meet you, but you didn't answer the second part of my question: what do you want?'

'Patience is a virtue. One that you have yet to learn apparently.'

'Do you have a name, creature?' Dr. Vincent asked me, examining me as though I was an insect pinned to a board.

'Yep.' I smirked. 'You may address me as "Mistress" or, if you prefer, "that girl who will kick your ass".'

'Let's try that again.' Dr. Vincent smiled unpleasantly. 'Do you have a name?'

'How about "Queen Prudence"? Is that less objectionable?'

He glared at me. I had a feeling he would have said something, probably a threat, if he wasn't interrupted by a door opening at the back of the room.

'I don't believe I've had the _pleasure_ of making your acquaintance.' Bellatrix slammed the door behind her. I was immediately jealous of how badass she sounded.

The two doctors (whose claims to the title 'Doctor' were questionable) introduced themselves in the same manner that they had to me, and invited her to sit.

'I accept your invitation.' Bellatrix said haughtily, refusing to surrender what little control she had. She nodded in my direction as she sat across from me. 'Hello.'

I nodded back. 'Hello.' I returned.

We sat in silence for approximately forty seconds before two more doors opened, both of them on the left side of the room.

'Please, join us.' Dr. O'Neill gestured for Peter and Sirius to sit. 'Before you ask, I am Dr. Arya O'Neill, and I am your host.'

'Our very gracious host, I'm sure.' Peter muttered, taking a seat next to me while Sirius sat next to his cousin. They exchanged brief glares.

'Do not fret too much, I promise not to mortally wound you. I'm simply delighted to meet you all! You're all so special, so unique!'

'Oh, is that why Dr. Wanker over here kidnapped us?' Sirius jerked a thumb at Dr. Vincent, who shrugged as if to say, _What? You're blaming me?_

'My dear friend Dr. Vincent was kind enough to catch you for me when I discovered your location. I couldn't bear to let someone else get their hands on you. I've been waiting so long for people,' she paused, then nodded at me, 'and creatures like you to waltz into my life.'

'If by "waltz", you mean "be hauled unwillingly after being forcibly captured", then yeah, I agree.' Peter said quietly.

'How you got here is no matter, it's the fact that you are here! Now that Dr. Vincent and I have introduced ourselves, how about you? It's hardly fair, you knowing our names while we don't know yours, don't you think?'

'No.' Bellatrix snapped. 'Where is my sister? Where is Rodolphus? If they're dead...' she let the threat trail off threateningly, but I noticed her glance away, swallowing, trying to deny the possibility.

'I'm afraid they had more pressing matters to attend to.' Dr. O'Neill smiled in the most friendly, creepy way I could imagine.

Dr. Vincent was a bit more straightforward. 'They are not dead. May I?' he asked Dr. O'Neill, who sighed and nodded.

'If you must.' she replied, and handed him what seemed like a standard TV remote.

A large television screen unfolded from the wall. Bellatrix and Sirius turned around to see it.

'The girl is fine.' Dr. Vincent told us firmly. 'But you will not be allowed to see her in person.'

At the press of a button of the probably-not-as-standard-as-it-seemed TV remote, the television flickered to life, showing Narcissa in a room that looked very much like the one I had woken up in. She was staring straight at the camera, looking less terrified than when I had last seen her. She seemed to have moved on to resigned acceptance, which made my heart twist slightly. I'd seen that look before, on the faces of my Flock.

'She is our insurance, so to speak.' Dr. O'Neill said lightly. 'I know what some of you are capable of. Every time you take so much as one step out of line, she loses a finger.'

Bellatrix looked furious, but didn't speak, choosing to fume in silence.

'Why would you do that?' Sirius demanded. 'Narcissa's just a bloody kid, and you're... Merlin, you're a horrible person!'

Dr. O'Neill looked affronted. 'I'm being quite kind to her. I have no other use for her. Instead of killing her, I've chosen to keep her alive. You should be grateful.'

'Grateful?' Sirius spluttered. '_Grateful?_ It's your fault in the first place! Saying I should be grateful to you is like saying I should be grateful that the pigeon that shat on me didn't peck my eyes out!'

'And I suppose Rodolphus is "insurance" as well?' Bellatrix glared at the two doctors of questionable degrees. If looks could kill, we'd be on our way out right now. Maybe I could get Dr. O'Neill to give her laser eyes...

Dr. Vincent looked away while Dr. O'Neill smirked. 'Hardly.' she replied. 'Your actions have absolutely no effect on his condition, so if you don't care for the girl, I suppose you could do whatever you like.'

'What do you mean?' Bellatrix's glare intensified, a thing I hadn't thought possible. I thought _I_ was good at glaring, but the vicious stares that collided in this room made me feel positively puny.

'Perhaps I should explain why you are all here.'

'Perhaps you should.' I snapped, finally able to get a word in.

'You are beings of extraordinary abilities.' Dr. O'Neill said. 'Four of you are "purebloods", made entirely of magical blood. What is it about you that grants you your powers? How far do these abilities extend? Does this magic protect you even when you're not consciously instructing it to? These are just some of the questions I will find answers for, all thanks to you.'

'I think you should explain yourself a little more.' Bellatrix growled.

'Why tell when you can show?' Dr. O'Neill's smirk widened as she picked up the TV remote. 'Or better yet, both!'

Dr. Vincent sighed and shifted in his seat as the television flicked from Narcissa staring at the camera to the man I recognised as the one who had transported me here, Hunter, leaning over an either unconscious of restrained Rodolphus, drawing blood out of his arm.

'I'd be very interested to see what would happen if magical blood were to be infused into an ordinary human.' Dr. O'Neill commented.

Dr. Vincent looked mildly disgusted. I wondered why.

'But that's for later. Can't have a perfect specimen dying too soon, can we?' she laughed, and Bellatrix glared. 'After all, we have so many more tests to run!'

'Let him go.' Bellatrix said. 'I'll do your stupid tests.'

'I don't think so. See, you and the other pureblood,' she gestured to Sirius, 'will be used for physical tests. I'd be very interested to see how your magic works? Do you think it increases your endurance? Your strength?'

'You only need one to do that. Let him go, and my sister.'

'I'm afraid I need your sister. And even if I were to set the other one free, I don't think he'd make it very far.'

'What do you mean by that?' Bellatrix's rage seemed to pulse through the room.

'I think I mentioned it earlier. We're going to see if a pureblood can endure more than a normal human without dying.'

'You - you bitch!' Bellatrix slammed her fist on the table. 'How dare you?'

Dr. Vincent seemed to be trying to ignore the argument. What was the big deal with him?

'Don't worry so much.' Dr. O'Neill waved a hand dismissively. 'You should be more concerned for yourself.'

'What about me?' Peter asked. 'Where do I fit into all of this?'

'You carry both non-magical and magical blood, am I correct?'

'Yeah,' Peter said quietly. He looked like he was trying to convince himself that it was all a dream.

'You will run the same test at the two purebloods.'

Peter broke her gaze and glanced at the floor. I decided to draw the attention off him.

'What do you want with me? You seem to have big ideas for all your magic tests, but what use am I to you?'

Dr. Vincent spoke, apparently over his discomfort. 'You are avian-human hybrid, but you have other mutations, seemingly from nowhere. Haven't you wondered why?'

'Well... no.' I said honestly. I'd never really given a crap.

'I have.' Dr. O'Neill said. 'And I'd love to see if the results can be replicated, possibly with another animal's genes.'

'What else've you got going on here, Dr. _O'Neill?_' I demanded sarcastically. 'The freaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?'

She looked at me blankly while Dr. Vincent tried to hide a snicker.

'Turtles... what an interesting concept.' she murmured.

'Yes, isn't it just?' I rolled my eyes. _Someone_ hadn't had a childhood, and it wasn't me. 'You know what else is an interesting concept? Letting us go.'

'You still haven't told me your names.' Dr. O'Neill said, and I sighed. She was unbelievably stubborn.

'Why bother? You already know.' Peter said. I straightened up.

'What?' I asked.

'I saw it in an office earlier.' Peter said. 'So you can stop lying now.'

Dr. O'Neill bristled. 'Take them.' she said, and suddenly we were surrounded. 'And don't even think about fighting. You know the consequences.'

Hands pulled at me, tugging me out of my chair. One hand snagged my wing, the sensitive bit, and I yelped, falling into the arms of one of my captors.

'No...' I growled. The others were faring just as well as I was, which made sense, since we all seemed to have made a silent agreement to play along with whatever she had in mind.

For now, anyway.


	14. Ledge

**Disclaimer, as per usual: Nothing you see here is mine.**

**Sorry if this chapter seems really disjointed and jumpy, but it's hard to link together characters who aren't even aware of each other.**

**Feedback? **

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**Chapter Fourteen: Ledge**

The witch grasped her wand tightly, gazing out of the large window.

_Happy thoughts... think happy thoughts. _

'Expecto patronum!'

The silver sambar bounded through the open window and disappeared into the night.

-o-o-o-o-

Fang glanced around furtively. Once he was sure no one was looking, he landed, relatively out of sight. No one noticed, or if they did, didn't think much of it.

_Lucky it's a new moon tonight,_ he thought._ Not too much light around for people to see me. _

Sure, there were streetlamps, but they couldn't illuminate every single inch of the place.

The gravel crunched beneath his feet as he made his way to the front door. He glanced over his shoulder quickly, a habit, just to make sure no one was following him. No one was there, so he knocked on the door, which was immediately opened, and he was whisked inside.

'Fang, it's great to see you again.' Brigid said, hugging him as she slammed the door shut with her foot.

'You too.' he replied and hugged her back. 'So what did you need?'

'Fang...' Brigid pulled away and locked gazes with him. 'You have to go.'

'What? I don't understand...'

'They're coming.' she whispered.

'Then why did you call me here?' Fang furrowed his brow. 'Was this a trap, Brigid?'

'No. They're not here for you. I need you to take a message. I need someone I can trust.'

He smiled slightly. 'I'm honoured.' he said. 'What's the message, and who to?'

Brigid pressed a folded piece of paper into his hand. In elegant script, it read _William Mason_. 'Promise me you won't read it.'

'I won't.' he said, frowning. 'Where will I find him?'

'You won't. There's a hotel not to far from here, the Hallowbrook Hotel.' Brigid told him. 'Daniella Chambers works there as a secretary. She'll be there on Friday night. Give it to her, she'll know what to do with it.'

'Okay.' Fang nodded.

'Do you have anywhere to stay?' she asked.

Fang considered the question. _It took me two days to get here. I can't make it to Hogwarts and back before Friday. I guess I'm stuck. _

'No,' he said. 'But I'm sure I can find somewhere.'

'It's okay. You can stay here. There's plenty of food in the kitchen, and there's a bedroom upstairs that you can use.'

He nodded.

'Thank you,' Brigid said, and hugged him again. 'I hope I'll see you again.'

Someone knocked on the door. Fang gazed questioningly at Brigid.

'You don't have to hide.' she said, throwing him a key. 'They don't care about you.'

He caught the key and ducked behind the wall anyway, peeking out to watch her answer the door.

'Dr. Dwyer.' the unseen man greeted.

'Hello.' Brigid replied, and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her.

She didn't come back.

-o-o-o-o-

'I don't get it,' Remus said, pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. 'Where could they be?'

'I don't know!' James ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. 'They couldn't have gotten lost, Hogsmeade isn't that big!'

'What's going on?' Lily asked, yawning. 'Why are you still up? It's nearly three.'

Remus stopped pacing and turned to face her. 'Sirius, Peter and Max are missing.'

'What? What do you mean?' Lily's eyes widened. 'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, they didn't come back from Hogsmeade.' James confirmed.

'But... hasn't anyone noticed?' Lily wondered. 'We should tell McGonagall. Or Dumbledore.'

'They already know.' Remus told her. 'They've got people looking for them. Apparently three Slytherins disappeared as well.'

'Maybe they killed each other,' James laughed, trying to cover his worry with bad jokes. 'Maybe they got into a fight and now they're all dead.'

'That sounds like something Sirius would do.' Remus replied, taking a seat next to James.

Lily forced a smile. 'I'm sure they're fine. Relax.' She seemed to be trying to reassure herself as well as the two boys.

'I hope so.'

-o-o-o-o-

I was shoved roughly into an unfamiliar corridor. Chain link wire fences served as walls. The ceiling was too low for me to fly. I touched the metal, and wondered if I could break it.

'Try it.' Dr. O'Neill appeared to my right, safely on the other side of the fence.

'What do you want?' I growled, infuriated.

'What does it look like?' she gestured. 'This hallway is filled with various traps. I'd love to see how your hybrid brain manages them.'

_No!_ my mind screamed. _Not this again. _

'Is this the best you could come up with?' I retorted.

'Is this the best you can do?' she shot my question straight back at me.

I started running. The hallway opened into a larger room, with large blades swooping across it. In the middle of the room was my wand.

There was really only one thing to do.

I leapt past the first blade and ducked as the second swung at me. I crawled forwards, then straightened up and jumped over a third blade. The fourth came too quickly for me to duck, so I dodged it awkwardly, not quite managing to pull away entirely. It nicked my arm, sending blood dribbling to the floor.

I dropped to the floor, crawling again, scrabbling desperately for my wand. It was the only hope I had.

My fingers hit wood, and I snagged it, drawing it towards me. Even though my magic was terrible at best, it was better than nothing at all.

'_Reducto!_' I screamed. It was the one of the three spells I was able to cast competently. My spell smashed through the blades as I cast it again and again until the room was empty. So much for her hallway full of traps. There was only one, and calling it a trap was like calling a piece of styrofoam a puppy.

I turned to see what Dr. O'Neill had to say about my undignified but ultimately successful acrobatics.

She wasn't there.

'_Reducto!_' I hurled the spell at the wire fencing partially in rage, and partially just to see if I could.

I could not. The spell disappeared right before hitting the fence.

'You can't break it. I reinforced it.' Dr. Vincent seemed to materialise out of the wall.

'How long have you been there?' I demanded. 'And what do you mean, "reinforced"?'

'Long enough.' he replied. 'And Dr. O'Neill had me put magical protections on the fence just to make sure no one could break out.'

'What's your deal?' I spat the question at him.

'Excuse me?' he raised an eyebrow.

'What are you doing here? What's your agenda?'

'Dr. O'Neill hired me to capture "magical beings". Once she heard that there was also a human-avian hybrid in the area, she decided to take you as well. '

'It was you who took us?'

'Yes. Originally, Dr. O'Neill sent her own agent to take you, but, as I had warned her, one muggle, even a protected one, couldn't hope to take six wizards. So I had to intervene to prevent the idiot from killing you all.'

'So, what?' I snarled defensively. 'You want me to thank you, or something?'

'I don't expect you to. I didn't exactly do you a favour, after all.' Dr. Vincent glanced away, looking almost sorrowful.

'Oh really?' I said sarcastically. 'I hadn't noticed.'

Dr. Vincent walked away without another word, so I stuck my tongue out at his retreating figure.

Yes, I know. I'm very mature.

'Now what?' I asked the empty space.

Unsurprisingly, it did not reply.

After waiting around for a minute or so to see if the floor would suddenly decide to stop supporting my weight and drop me, I decided that the room had nothing more to offer and headed back the way I came.

That was when the ceiling started to lower with an ominous _creak_.

'Oh, crap.' I said, and began to sprint.

I wasn't going to make it. It was fairly obvious, but since when has that ever stopped me? I kept running as the hallway got smaller and smaller, eventually forcing me to slither along the ground as fast as I could.

Naturally, that's when the floor decided to rescue me from a horrible death and collapse beneath me. I tumbled down, and I may, just _may_, have screamed.

My wings unfurled, hard, and it hurt. I vaguely recalled having a dream about this once, except instead of a crazy 'Doctor' and a hole in the floor, there was a cliff and Erasers.

I looked up to see if the hole in the floor was still there and if I could get back up.

It was gone, and I realised that it probably wasn't a hole at all, but rather, a trap door.

So I kept going downwards instead.

It must have been about ten minutes before I finally saw the end of this pit.

It took me another five to get there, but when I did land, I found myself in a long hallway almost identical to the one that had led me to the dining room, save for a crack in the wall. This place was crazy. It was probably made of completely identical rooms and corridors.

There was no way I could get back up, so I started walking, heading straight for the room at the end. I opened the door. There was nothing on the other side. It was just a wall.

'Why would anyone do that?' I muttered to myself.

Oh, right. Dr. O'Neill was a lunatic. She'd probably designed this place herself.

I sighed. It seemed my excursion had been a complete waste of time. Maybe I wasn't supposed to have fallen down the trap door.

Since I was here anyway, I figured I might as well do some exploring.

Well, I would have if there was anything to explore. Which there wasn't.

The lights flickered, then shut off.

'Great. Just... wonderful.' I seemed to be talking to myself a whole lot more since I'd arrived. Maybe craziness was contagious after all.

A thin sliver of light shone through the crack in the wall, and I noticed that the crack ran straight up and down, looking less like a crack and more like a hidden door.

Naturally, being me, I went to see if I was right. I touched the wall lightly, running my fingers across it to see if I could find the mechanism to open it.

Nothing.

I punched it in frustration, and it swung open.

'What, just push it? This place is ridiculous.' I growled to no one.

The light on the other side of the door was a torch, one of the medieval styled ones, with an actual flame. Torches lined the stone wall.

The passageway was large enough for me to fly through, so I did. I was determined to avoid falling through any more trap doors.

After about eight flaps of my wings, I found myself at the end of the little passage, and pushed the door open. These doors seemed to swing both ways.

The hallway was identical to the one on the other side of the passage. This place was insanely repetitive. I took a quick glance around, trying to spot any cameras and/or crazy doctors looking to dissect me.

Nothing. Well, that I could see, anyway.

I flew down the hall, and opened the door at the end, fully expecting to see a wall.

It was another corridor. Of course, it looked exactly the same as this one. I resisted the urge to scream and curse and punch the whole place into submission.

My wings flapped as I surveyed this new corridor from above. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I opened the door at the end. If it was another identical corridor, I would...

Well, I didn't know what I would do, but it would be drastic.

Fortunately, it wasn't another stupid corridor. Unfortunately, it was a wall. Again.

I hated this place so much.


	15. All Upstanding

**Disclaimer: Not even a little bit official. Ever.**

**This is an interesting chapter for me (if a little short), because it is entirely from other people's points of view. Up til now, I'm pretty sure every chapter was written primarily from Max's point of view, so this is, well... different. it was certainly harder to write. How do you guys feel?**

* * *

**Fifteen: All Upstanding**

'Where _are_ they?' Iggy frowned. He was sitting in an empty classroom with Nudge. Tess was hovering outside, concerned, but he'd told her he needed to discuss something with his family.

'I don't know,' Nudge mumbled sadly. A few days ago, she would have thought having Max and Fang, aka Miss and Mr Forget-About-Everyone-Because-Hey-Look-New-People- And-We're-Too-Busy-Making-Out (abbreviated as Miss and Mr FAEBHLNPAWTBMO) gone for a while would be a good thing, and give her some breathing space.

_Was that even what I wanted?_ she wondered. As soon as they had been separated, split off into separate houses, she'd known things would fall apart. They couldn't be apart. They'd been together their whole lives and now... well, look at them now. What was there to say? Together they were strong, but alone they were a ruin.

She blinked back tears, frustrated with her inability to do _something_, anything. She still had Iggy, and she'd sent off an letter to Gazzy and Angel (and Ella, Valencia and Jeb, by association, but it was still hard to think of them as family) informing them of the circumstances. They'd received two in return not three hours ago, one telling them to sit tight and not to do anything stupid because they were coming (from Jeb and Valencia) and one saying "OH MY GOD THIS IS HORRIBLE BUT WE'RE COMING IT'LL BE OK BECAUSE WE ARE BRINGING EXPLOSIVES AND STUFF LOVE FROM ANGEL AND GAZZY" (from Angel and Gazzy, obviously).

'Nudge,' Iggy said gently, 'we can find them.'

'You're right,' Nudge replied. _We can and we will._

-o-o-o-o-

'... and I'm very sorry about these circumstances.'

Ella thought that Albus Dumbledore was the single more sincere-sounding person she had ever known (including her mother and Max (sometimes especially Max)), and there was something about his eyes when he looked that made her feel like things would work out.

She, her mother, Jeb, Gazzy and Angel were sitting in the Headmaster's office, having come as soon as they'd sent off a reply to Iggy and Nudge. Two other staff members, Minerva McGonagall and Horace Slughorn, had joined them. As far as Ella understood, Max and Fang weren't the only ones missing. Along with them had gone five other students, two of them Ella knew to be Max's new friends.

'Mr Dumbledore, sir,' Angel chirped up, and immediately all eyes turned to see what she had to say.

Dumbledore offered her a warm smile. 'Yes?'

_BANG!_

The door was slammed open.

'My _children_ are missing and you sit here offering nothing but _condolences_ to these people? While I'm sure that's all very well meant, if they feel even half as strongly about their relatives as I do about my daughters, all they want right now is some _action_.'

The speaker was a tall, strikingly beautiful woman, whose perfect features had been marred by tears and bitter rage. Behind her stood what seemed to be a small crowd.

Jeb had stood up as soon as the door had opened, as though to defend them from some sort of attack. He queried, 'And who might you be?'

The rotund man who had been introduced as Slughorn stepped forward. 'Ah, Mrs Black, good to see you again. This is -'

The woman cut him off. 'I am Druella Black. My children are missing and I intend to get them _back_. If you would like to join me, please _do_.'

'And us!' A black haired boy with glasses pushed his way forward. 'They are our _friends_, we can't just let them go.'

'Besides you -' another boy started, but was cut off.

'_Enough_.' Dumbledore said firmly, and rose to his feet. 'The decision has already been made. We will form a search party and inform the Aurors so they too can keep an eye out. All those underage are to remain here for their own safety.'

And that was that. There was a flurry of movement and upheaval, and Ella found herself being ushered out of the office by her mother whilst Iggy argued passionately to be allowed to go, Nudge and Gazzy whispered frantically to each other and Angel...

Angel stood stock still in the middle of it all, focused on _something_ that Ella couldn't see. Then she turned to Ella, and whispered four words that seemed to make time stop: '_I have a plan_.'

-o-o-o-o-

Fang woke alone. The house had an empty feel to it. Silent, mournful. It welcomed him as an outsider, and let him rest like he hadn't been able to for quite some time.

Hogwarts was great and all, but like he'd said to Max, there was something missing. He'd thought about it for a while now, but there had been something missing from their lives from quite sometime - a spark. A flash of adrenalin, a sense of adventure.

Maybe it was crazy to miss the times they were constantly running, constantly fighting, but...

_Wait. I don't miss those times. I miss Max from those times_.

When she was wild.

When she was a fighter.

When she was wicked.

When she was as free as she could be.

When she was _his_, when she wasn't fussing around with trying to be _normal_.

_God I miss her. _

He loved her. Maybe more than he should.

_But not enough to stay with her_, a voice that sounded terribly like his own told him. _You great fool.__  
_

-o-o-o-o-

'Mr Corvene.'

Jace turned to see Arya approach.

'Yes, Dr. O'Neill?' he replied politely. His stomach clenched nervously.

'How are you getting on with your work?' the doctor queried. She took a seat next to him and glanced at his notes on the various subjects.

'Um, very well, thank you.' He felt his cheeks heat up as she slid her hands across the desk and took his clipboard, brushing ever-so-slightly against his own hands as she did so.

She hummed softly as she perused his work. He watched her carefully, her dark eyes not betraying even a hint of emotion, blonde hair splashing against her shoulders, the way she leaned forward ever so slightly as though -

'Very good, Mr Corvene.' Her voice broke him out of his reverie, and he glanced back to her face, startled.

'T-thank you, Dr. O'Neill.'

Her lush lips curved into a small smile. 'Come, Mr Corvene. I did not visit sole to observe your work. There is a meeting going on, so I thought I'd inform you personally.'

Again, heat rushed to his cheeks. He got up instantly and followed her out the door.

They walked in silence, much to his chagrin. If only he wasn't so thrice-damned _awkward_ with people, he might know what to say.

_Are you doing anything this weekend? Would you like to get dinner with me? I think you're really great, I admire your work but I admire you even more. Arya, I really like you. Like, a lot. Would you like to go out sometime? I know you're out of my league but I can't keep quiet much longer, I need to know if there's even the slightest chance you'd say yes. If there isn't we can just return to being colleagues, nothing more, and I'll never say a word about this again but Arya I need to tell you because it's killing me. _

He said nothing.

She stopped in front of a door he recognised as leading to a balcony. He watched her place a graceful hand on the scanner, and the doors opened with a soft _whoosh_. She offered him another of her small smiles, and she led him out onto the balcony.

'Look there, Mr Corvene.' she murmured. He followed her gaze as she pointed down to the courtyard below, where a man was chained to the base of a statue entitled _The Noble Queen_.

'Who is that?' Jace asked.

Arya replied, 'The man I sent to take the most recent subjects. He failed, and damaged one. Dr. Vincent had to step in to ensure none of the others were damaged.'

It was then Jace realised what this was: a public execution.

A burly figure strode towards the chained man. He was known only as Hunter, and often called Arya's guard dog. _  
_

'This man has failed in his duties to Dr. Arya O'Neill. He is worse than useless.' Hunter declared. 'Dr. Vincent, if you would be so kind...'

'_Avada kedavra!_' A jet of green shot towards the chained man, exploded there, and left him dead. Hunter cut the chains away, and the corpse fell limply to the ground. A team of cleaners hurried forward to collect the body and bore it away.

Arya laid a hand on Jace's arm. He looked at her, into her eyes.

'It was for his own good.' she said softly. 'If Queen had heard of his failure and thought I had not punished him, she would have given him far worse than a painless death. I trust you will not fail me as he did, Mr Corvene. I would hate to see you in that position.'

With that, she left him standing there alone, presiding over the dispersing crowd, and he loved her more than ever.


End file.
